Where are Your Parents?
by lezonne
Summary: "We have to go now Mr. Draco!" "Fine, we'll go," he relented, quickly scooping the child up as he took off. Crashing into a child late one night isn't what Draco had in mind, and being chased by a figure in a dark cloak really doesn't help his mood. But when Hermione can't see the chaser, what does this mean? And what secrets does this orphan really hide?
1. Well I Just

**A/n**: This is my new story. I'm not sure how it's going to be taken but hopefully you at least enjoy it. It's somewhat lighter than my others and the rating is lower, but I have no idea where its going. It's just something I thought I would try. Thanks to my new beta **Hunter's Heir**!

* * *

He grew up in an ancient Manor, decorated with exquisite artifacts, acres upon acres of land at his disposal. She had a much simpler childhood, but one adored with love and coddled in warmth.

Abigail knew these things. She read about the two every day, wandering the streets looking for food. Sure, she could stay at the orphanage and eat the bits of food that could be provided, but she chose not to. Her friends could eat the meager bites there, and she would substitute her food with what could be found on the streets.

Torn pages tucked under her arm, she ducked behind a dumpster and waited as a café deposited the trash. She knew that some of the fancier places didn't use day old bread or already cooked pasta, and would throw the fresh food away. That's where she would find her food again.

She had all the legends livelihoods with her. Slipping them into the sewn-in pocket of her coat, she closed her eyes and shoved her broken glasses up her nose. She would imagine she was Harry Potter for a moment, braving the forces of evil to save someone- in this case, to save the unwanted food.

The girl knew all about the famous boy-who-lived. Harry Potter's defeat against the Dark Lord was nearly five years old, and in the years since poverty had attacked the lower class families in England. Stricken by the damage left behind by war families found their pockets empty when a scattered Ministry demanded part of their wages, attempting to rebuild a desolated land.

She thought it was awful. Abigail was three when the war was won- a child sitting in her aunt's lap. During the final breakouts of the war, those following few weeks when enraged Death Eater's took to the streets and slaughtered as many innocents as possible before being caught, she lost her aunt. Later at the age of seven the orphanage owner, Annie, would tell her that she knew her mother, but the father was never around. Since that day, she lived as one of the many faces inside the orphanage. She wasn't quite aware of the circumstances that Annie knew her mother under.

Truth be told, she didn't hate it there. The beds had enough covers, even if they were frightfully uncomfortable and cramped, and she had lots of friends that she could spend her time with. Once she hit eleven though, she would be able to escape the place and actually have a bit of fun. Hogwarts loomed in the distance for all of them, the token to finally having a life. It would be expensive, but all the elder children before her got to go. The school did not make the orphans pay for school supplies or tuition, merely the robes. Although it did cost a lot to them, it was merely a silver of what the overall cost would be if they were in a different situation. But the staff at Hogwarts would not jeopardize the children's possibility to learn.

Once the employee finished throwing out the food, she scrambled forward and searched for something decent. A bit of noodles here, some bread there. A cup of sealed water weighed down one side of a worn coat, and it would be with those few meager things that she had for her dinner. Though not the only child at the orphanage that decided to brave the outside world and search for her own meals, she supposed she was the only one that knew of this specific place.

Sitting in the shadows of the alley, she began to eat. While doing so, small yet nimble fingers found their way back into the coat and removed the torn pages from books, something she wasn't proud of but couldn't help.

There they were; the legacies. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, all those Weasleys, Albus Dumbledore and the like. She was illiterate though, and couldn't read the stories herself. One of the older children at the orphanage occasionally read the articles to her, and now she knew them by heart.

The few slivers of paper on the other side of her coat represented a different set of heroes. She knew these people weren't really good, for they had fought with Voldemort. Yet in the end, they became turncoats and did something marvelous with their lives. Draco Malfoy, the one who in the end sent battle plans to the Order and was almost killed. Pansy Parkinson; a spy for a year who was killed trying to report to one of the Order members during the final months of war. Blaise Zabini, who assisted in the murder of Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, a set of names that Abigail didn't really understand, but she knew were important. These were the dark angels, the ones who peaked into the light at the right time and helped bring down a tyrant.

She picked up the one of Draco Malfoy. Despite his amazing change, despite his decision to change sides and give away the biggest piece of information of them all, he was sentenced to Azkaban for a year. Though her knowledge was limited, she knew Azkaban was a terrifying prison that they only ever sent truly evil beings to. She didn't understand why the world saw him as one of them.

Her other favorite person within the two stacks, despite having similarities with the world-famous Harry Potter, was Hermione Granger. She was famous for so many things, but what stuck out to Abigail the most was the fact that she was born without magical parents, just like her. Everyone in the orphanage told her she wouldn't be special because she didn't have the right magical properties in her, but Abigail believed otherwise. Hermione was the same, and she achieved many things.

These were the legends; the prodigies. Alongside so many other faces, they would go down in history; the faces of people that would never be forgotten. The heroes of their time, the greatest of the great.

They were idols- icons really. And to a little girl living inside a half-collapsing orphanage, they represented a dream.

* * *

Draco strode through the alleyway, his shoulders drawn back and his cloak billowing out behind him. His hair was short like he wore it in sixth year, his shoes shiny, and his clothing impeccable.

For Draco, life was good. Despite being sentenced (unfairly in his opinion) to Azkaban- which we won't go into- he had a pretty amazing life. Surprisingly enough, more people were accepting of his change of heart than he expected once he was released from prison, and he speculated that was because of the large bit of information that he provided when crunch time came. Everyone alive knew that if he hadn't given that attack plan away, if he hadn't interfered, the Order would have lost many members. But he did send the document, he did betray his family, his friends, and his bloody Lord, and he changed everyone's destiny. Because of him, a tyrant was stopped before Britain's last defenses fell, and people could overlook some of the bad qualities about him for that single act of good.

That single act of good that saved Potter's, Granger's and Weasley's lives. Without him, they would've been the first to fall. And yet they were alive, living on as legends.

So was he. And although he liked the attention, he wished everyone would stop calling him a bloody hero. He wasn't a hero; he wasn't a saint. His heart was still tinged dark and black, and he preferred to keep it that way. A bit of tough skin, a bit of sharp tongue, and he could still feel like himself. If he started going soft, Draco wasn't sure he could live with himself.

He still had friends, imagine that! Although his time spent in Azkaban was less than pleasant- what with those angry, betrayed Death Eaters always trying to kill him- it was made up for by the warm welcome he received from many people upon his return. Though they might be weary of him, they respected him. No one exactly knew why he decided to do something for the Order at the last moment, but no one complained. And he had no intention of ever sharing his reasoning.

He just couldn't stand being listed among the "Legacies" right alongside Potter and all his bloody friends- for eternity! It was almost like a punishment in his eyes. _Bloody public, trying to place us under the same category! None of us are alike._

It was late at night now, and Draco had been wandering for hours. This wasn't something that was necessarily uncommon for him, but it wasn't something he did regularly. He had a lot to think about tonight and he didn't want to stride around his Manor endlessly. That would only stress him out.

Come to think of it, he hadn't really been paying attention to where he was wandering. Glancing around, he realized he had strayed into a tighter side alley and cringed. No stores or restaurants here, just piles of trash. Crinkling his nose, he booked it back out of the alley, nearly creaming a little kid.

"Bloody hell," he muttered, jumping away from the sudden form, nearly crashing into a wall. He steadied himself almost immediately, whirling his head around in search of the person he nearly crashed into. He found the child on the ground, gazing up at him with huge eyes.

"Well, get up then," he said, studying the girl as she stood. She could be no more than eight, and her long curls were completely tangled around her head. Her clothing was less than acceptable, with holes in the knees of her trousers and the shirt so dirty that it was hardly worth wearing. She'd probably have better luck if she zipped up the coat, but he noticed that it was ratty as well, patched up on all sides, and it as about three inches too short in the arms. "Are you alright? What are you even doing out at this bloody hour, don't you know it's dangerous?"

She blinked up at him, her eyes practically bulging out of her head. "You… you…"

"Yes?"

"You… you're Draco Malfoy!"

"Well, yes, thanks for noticing," he replied, rolling his eyes. "You didn't answer my question. This place might have some decent restaurants, but this is not the right area for a little kid to be running around! Where are your parents?"

Immediately, her eyes dropped, and she refused to answer. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair, wondering why he had to run into someone tonight of all nights. He had been in a decent mood when he was winking at admiring women, but now he was just irritated. And having to deal with this random child on top of it wasn't helping.

"What's your name?" he asked at length when he realized she wasn't going to respond to his last question.

"Abigail," she said, keeping her head lowered. He wondered what he had said that upset the girl so much.

"Right well, I can't just leave you out here Abigail. Do you know where you live, or where your parents are?"

Again, he didn't get a response from the child, and he grumbled something under his breath. Why couldn't a parent appear from nowhere and declare this child theirs and run off? That would make life so much easier.

A shuffling noise down the alley a bit caught his attention and the blonde looked over, thinking his prayers had been answered. A figure stepped out of the shadows and he breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he could finally get this kid out of his hair so he could continue pondering adult things- like finances and that terrible '_job_' word.

"There, that must be-"

"We have to go!" she said suddenly, backing away from the figure. Immediately its head whipped around, but the dark cloak worn hid any facial features. Draco frowned, watching the child retreat.

"What-"

"We have to go now Mr. Draco!" she cried, reaching up to pull on his hand. He was about to tell her that she was being silly and that if anything was wrong he could handle it, until he looked back.

The figure in the cloak was rushing at them, a blade in one hand and a wand in the other.

_Why me? Why do I always have to handle the terrible situations?_

"Fine, we'll go," he relented, quickly scooping the child up as he took off. There went any hope of a peaceful walk, clearing his head or having a normal night. Pulling out his wand, he put up a shield charm at the same instant as a spell bounced off of it, and the kid in his arms screamed.

"Don't scream," he said, rushing out of the alley and onto the main road. It was late now, and most of the places were closed. No one was out on the street, and he cursed his luck. Now he just needed to find a place to hide the kid and deal with this as a logical, level-headed adult.

And if that failed, he was going to fire off a flurry of hexes and see if any of them hit the attacker. One or the other.

Racing down the street, he dodged another attack and felt the child cling tighter to him. Now his hero title would never go away! Searching for a place to deposit her, his luck changed as the door to a bookshop opened.

Without looking to see who it was, he rushed over to the woman stepping out, who was only just beginning to see the scene before her.

"Take her and get inside," he instructed, hoping this random passer-by wouldn't panic and start screaming just like the child. Thankfully the door wasn't locked yet and he shoved both girls inside, slamming the door behind him as he turned back to face the shadowed figure.

"What is going on!?" the woman said, squirming out from underneath the child. The poor thing had a very pale face, and her lips were trembling. "Are you alright? Did Malfoy really just throw a child at me? And what on earth is wrong with him? He acts like he's being chased!"

Abigail remained on the floor, rubbing her eyes and blinking several times to make sure she wasn't dreaming. She even pinched herself. But no, this was really happening to her.

"Hermione G-Granger?" she said, going wide-eyed again. The woman picked her up and set her on the counter, examining the girl.

"Doesn't look like you're too banged up," she remarked, brushing the girl's hair back. "And you can call me Hermione, sweetie. Now are you alright? Malfoy was a bit careless, just throwing you on me and shoving us through the door like that. I swear, he gets a little worse with every passing year."

Still stunned, the girl failed to answer any of the brunette's questions. "You're… Hermione Granger! And I just met Draco Malfoy!"

The woman fixed a perplexed look on her face. "Yes… yes I am. Honey, what's your name?"

"Abigail."

"Right. Well, Abigail, will you please tell me why Malfoy just threw you at me and slammed the door shut like that?"

Remembering why she had been running to begin with, the girl's excitement disappeared. "We were running from the shadows."

"Excuse me?"

"The shadows!" she cried, pulling the back of her worn jacket up like a hood. "They were looking for me again!"

"I see," she said, nodding her head along with the girl's story. Pulling out her wand, she made a glass of water appear and handed it to the girl, making sure she would remain sitting on the counter. "Drink this honey, okay? I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" she asked, tilting her head. Glancing around, she pulled her jacket tighter on her. She didn't want the shadows jumping out at her again.

"I just have to talk to Malfoy really fast," she replied, smiling as she slipped out the door. Once outside, her expression soured and she flicked her wand, lighting it. "Malfoy!"

"Granger! I'm right here, there's no reason to yell at me," he remarked, lighting his wand as he spoke. He was wandering on the street, swinging his head this way then the other.

"_What_ do you think you're doing? You can't just appear from nowhere and throw children at me! Not in the middle of the bloody night!"

"Well, I didn't want to slow down," he remarked, turning around to head back towards her. "In case you didn't notice, I was running from something."

"You weren't running from _anything_. All I saw was you throwing a kid at me before you shoved me back into my own shop! This isn't funny!"

"No it's not!" he replied, getting closer to her. They were standing in the street now, wands close together, not a trace of another being in sight.

"You weren't running from anything," she said again, hardening her gaze. "I saw you running up to me; there was no one behind you."

"Yes there was; trust me here Granger, I know that something was following me." Pulling at his cloak, he revealed a spot on the cloak where the fabric had been signed. The edges were still smoking, and it looked slightly orange, like the dying embers weren't completely gone yet. Their gazes met.

"Okay then," she said sarcastically, "If this supposed person was chasing you, then where are they, hmm?"

He shrugged, looking around the street again. "I don't know Granger, okay? Whoever was following us just disappeared into the shadows."

Their gazes met at that, neither willing to give up their point. It had been nearly five years since they spoke, and their unexpected five year reunion was starting off with a bang- in the middle of the night, with an unknown child sitting inside her store.

* * *

**A/n:** This is a very random story that I decided to write on the spot. Yes, it's going to have to do with orphans and supernatural things and all that. Plus there's a bit of a twist with this orphan. Thoughts on the story?

I like writing supernatural things guys! It allows me to do anything.

I don't know if I will continue this or not. It depends on how people take it really.


	2. Heard the News Today

**A/n**: Hi again! So I had some family issues to deal with and this is late, but it's here! We'll see if I can't get chapter three up sooner!

Length? I know nothing about a designated chapter length for this story; I'm basically going off whatever ideas I have for each chapter.

Thanks to my beta **Hunter's Heir**!

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Chapter titles are now going to be based off the song "With Arms Wide Open" by Creed. Enjoy!

* * *

"Well, this is just lovely," Hermione said, sitting down on the steps in front of her shop. "Just bloody lovely! What are we supposed to do now Malfoy, hmm? That kid isn't ours, and now we have to file a stupid report on your supposed "attack"."

"It did happen Granger, no matter how much you might disagree. I didn't see you running alongside me, so just shut up about it. You weren't just chased down numerous streets by some crazy guy with a knife!" He waved his arms around, trying to make it obvious that this was indeed a big deal.

"No, you're right, I just had someone throw-"

"Would you shut up about that already!? I was _trying_ to be a hero."

She snorted. "It's going to take more than that to get hero marks, you know."

His eyes darkened at that in the streetlight. "Yes, I know," he spat, his tone growing hostile. Her eyebrows rose high on her head at that, listening to him speak so gruffly about such a simple compliment. She knew he got a recognition that he didn't care for, but she didn't think after so long that anything from the war that _minor_ would rub him the wrong way. Apparently, she was wrong.

There was a pause between them before Hermione forced herself to stand up. "Well, let's go back in and talk to her. We aren't getting anywhere out here."

"Really now?" he said sarcastically, crossing his arms as they walked back in. The girl was staring up at a shelf at the front of Hermione's store, and Draco quickly realized it was a bookstore as the door shut behind him.

_How cliché._

She turned around, grinning widely as she realized they had returned. "Hi again!" she said, grasping her hands together as she looked between the two. They exchanged a brief glance.

"Well, Abigail, it seems like you know who we are. How about you tell us something about yourself; got a last name?" Hermione elbowed the blonde, thinking that his wording was completely inconsiderate of the girl's feelings.

"No," she replied, shaking her head as she reached into her coat for something. Again, the adults exchanged a glance. "Look, I have you two!"

Before Draco could whip out something inconsiderate to say to that comment, the girl pulled out some articles and held them up, drawing their attention. They both leaned in to study the pieces of paper before Hermione gently took them from her hand.

They were articles on her, Draco, and all of their friends right after the war. The papers were several years old by now, having been through quite a bit considering how torn they were. There were separate articles on each of them, their faces plastered somewhere across the folded sheet. Hermione frowned at this, peering back at the little girl strangely. She'd seen people collect things on them before and found it slightly tiresome, but this was different she felt.

Grazing her finger over the paper she could feel the scattered bits of hardened paper, and knew the texture came from water. There were little differences like that all over the articles, and she realized they must've been made by tears. But why would she have tears all over some paper about joy?

"Where did you get these?" she asked, scrunching up her nose as she looked back at the little girl. "The war… it was years ago. You would've been an infant when the final battle happened, and you probably have no memory of the entire event. So how do you know who we are? These were some of the first reports printed."

She grinned up widely at them. "My mommy gave them to me!"

"Who's your mother?" Draco asked, jumping into the conversation. Now that she was finally discussing her parents, he wanted to keep her talking before she blocked out that method of conversation again.

The girl's eyes dropped, and Draco groaned, wishing the girl would just tell them who she was. At his side, he could see Granger crossing the papers aside, resting her arms together as though she was thinking.

"Do you know your last name?"

"You already asked that," she pouted.

Hermione smiled at the girl softly, bending down to her height. "I know, but I just want to help you out. You must miss your home."

"No," she said, turning her nose up, "I hate my home!"

"Well, I'm sure you don't mean that," the woman reasoned, completely oblivious to the blonde behind her that was shaking his head, knowing she wasn't going to get any further than he did. "Sometimes we just don't like our homes."

"No," she snapped, balling up her hands as she looked back at Hermione. "No one likes me there! And no one ever wants me! Nobody ever wants an orphan!"" Without waiting for the woman's surprised response, she ran off behind the counter into the back, leaving the two adults in her wake.

Slowly, Hermione turned to Draco. "No wonder she's sad; we keep asking an orphan about her parents!"

He rolled his eyes. "Well, how was I supposed to know that? It's not like I ask people all the time if they're orphans or not. I wasn't trying to be a jerk, unlike you."

She crossed her arms. "I'm not being a jerk! I'm just saying that we're not going to get anywhere with her if we ask her things that upset her. The best we can even do is attempt to figure out which orphanage she is living at and try to get her back there." Hermione shook her head. "Merlin, this is like kidnapping!"

Draco looked appalled. "I did not kidnap the girl! She ran into me! Besides, I saved her from some sort of monstrosity, so this is more like a recusing than a kidnapping."

"Oh, you rescued her from the dark!"

"For the last time Granger, there was something out there tonight! I don't honestly know why I'm so concerned whether or not you believe me, since you never have believed anything I say. Let's just go talk to the bloody girl and get this over with. Tonight has been strange enough; I just wanted to go on a walk."

"In Diagon Alley?" she asked, sounding unconvinced with his explanation for being there tonight. "Let's be honest Malfoy, I don't really care why you're down here. We just need to talk to her and sort things out, logically."

He snorted in response, but she ignored him as she walked off towards the backroom Abigail had wandered into. Malfoy followed, much to her disdain, since this was _her_ personal shop after all and she wasn't comfortable with just anyone wandering around behind the desk. She'd have to watch him closely.

Behind the counter they found the girl sitting just inside the doorway to the backroom, her head resting on her knees, her papers resting on the ground beside her. Hermione stepped in first, immediately sitting beside the child. The blonde that followed her opted to remain standing a few feet back by the counter, close enough to listen but not near enough to closely interact.

"Abigail?"

"Go away. I don't like you anymore."

Without bothering to look up at Malfoy, she gently picked the papers up and rested them on the girl's head, something that caused her to look up at the slight weight, and the papers fell. She was quick to catch the child's news articles, less she upset her more.

"I think you still like us a little bit," she argued, playfully smiling at the girl. Although Abigail was looking at her, the brunette couldn't see an ounce of amusement in her face.

"You won't like me though," she said, setting her chin on her knees again. "No one likes orphans."

"That's completely untrue!" Hermione argued, set in stone on getting this girl to quit pouting. "One of my very best friends in the world is an orphan, and a lot of people like him. He's one of the most famous people on the planet, marveled all over. You can't say that no one likes orphans."

"He's different!" she snapped, looking away from Hermione to Draco's shoes. "He's powerful, and great, and friendly. And his parents were rich! I don't have money; I'm not friendly. Nobody likes me."

"Well, I like you," she argued again, wrapping an arm around the girl. "Malfoy likes you too."

"I-"

"Don't you Malfoy?" she hissed as the child looked up hopefully from the blonde's shoes to his face. Glancing sideways at his former classmate, he realized he was either going to answer correctly or face a long 'Granger-rant' like he had heard about during school. Hopefully, he could avoid that punishment.

"Of course," he replied, giving the child a crooked smile. "What's not to like? You turned my midnight walk into a real cardio workout, what with the running, the jumping, the hexes, oh, and of course when I got to partake in this lovely banter with Gra-"

"See, he likes you," she said, speaking over the male. "People like people no matter where they live."

"Really?"

"Really, really," Hermione replied, eyeing Draco over the child's head now. "But it's very late Abigail. We should be getting you back before someone worries."

Immediately, the child's expression dropped, but Hermione tried not to focus on it too much as she hauled the girl up, handing her the articles as she stood. Once more, the girl tucked them into a pocket in her worn coat.

"I don't want to go back."

"They're going to be worried," the brunette pointed out again as she led the girl back to Draco. "And now there are two of us watching you on the way back, so the shadows won't stand a chance."

To that, her mood perked up a bit. "Really?"

"Of course! So why don't you lead the way, or do you know the name of the orphanage honey?"

If the word sparked any emotion in her she didn't let on, and merely hopped to the door and pushed it open, pausing to glance their way. "We have to go; you must meet them!"

"Who?" the blonde asked, afraid of her answer. After the experience he had earlier, he really wasn't interested in meeting anyone else. From the corner of his eye he could see Granger snatching up a bag, moving to stand near him. A set of keys lay in her hand.

"The other kids!" she cried, throwing her hands up as though it should be obvious. "At the orphanage! They will flip if I bring you there! I can't wait."

"It's the middle of the night," Hermione pointed out, letting the two leave her shop before she locked up, her body not nearly as tense as the blonde's.

"So? I'll wake them up! They have to meet you!" Snatching up both the adults' hands, she pulled them out into the street, starting up a conversation neither of them understood. It was apparent however, that she wasn't panicking anymore, and at least seemed to know where she was going. That set the adults minds at ease a bit, considering the night they both had already had.

Nothing else needed to happen to make tonight any longer, or weirder.

* * *

Hermione looked around, cringing at the interior of the building as they waited just inside the door for the administrator of the orphanage to make an appearance. A child older than Abigail greeted them at the door originally, but hostile eyes and bony fingers made the woman feel uncomfortable, and she desired specifically to speak to the owner of the poor establishment. Why Malfoy continued to stay, she didn't know.

The entire place was in shambles, with the ceilings high but appearing to be about to cave in, the paint chipped on the walls, the furniture covered in dust that was possibly older than she was. The floor was worn and covered in dirt, with rugs that were so old she didn't understand why someone didn't just throw them out. Glancing at the blonde, she realized he looked quite horrified by the building and grinned. Well, at least she wasn't the only appalled one, and this probably poked at his high expectations, possibly scaring him more than it did her.

Neither of them really knew anything about the system orphaned children went through in the magical world. Harry was placed specifically- and in a muggle home no less- and never experienced this. Part of Hermione wondered if all the orphanages in town looked like this, or if that was just stereotypical. Sure, the war cost Britain heaps of money, but they couldn't be establishments like this from having semi-decent funds, right?

"Ah, Hermione," came a voice, one which startled the girl. Glancing over at a door on the far side of the room, both adults watched a girl appear from the shadows, her clothing matching none of the décor around them. She actually looked well dressed, cleaned up, wearing fine clothing. It was quite uncomfortable to see the woman dressed like that, and have Abigail wearing such rags.

But Hermione knew that face, and it alarmed her a bit to realize who it was. "Hannah? Hannah Abbott?"

"It's me," she said, holding her arms out wide, as though there was something worthwhile to look at in their surroundings currently. "What brings you down here to Bainbridge Orphanage at such a late hour?"

"We're bringing someone back," Draco muttered, cutting in before Hermione had a chance to reply. Instantly, the other woman's eyes fell on Abigail, who looked down at the floor.

"Oh, yes, I heard that you disappeared again."

"Miss Hannah, you don't understand-"

"I understand that you were outside way past curfew and that you ended up bothering these poor people. Look now, they've had to spend the time to bring you back home." The child cringed at the word home.

"But Miss Hannah, the shadows-"

"Oh enough with that silly talk; we've been through this Abigail, there's nothing bad in the shadows. Now up to your room this instant! You've caused enough worry for one night."

The child's head dropped, and she waited a moment before glancing back at the two adults who brought her home. "I won't see you again, huh?"

"You never know," the brunette said, trying to lift the girl's spirits. But now confusion clouded her brain, for until this moment she was under the impression that Abigail had never met a war hero. But wouldn't Abbott be considered a heroin, even if she wasn't as recognized or reported as the two people she encountered tonight? Hermione didn't understand why she was so amazed, when a hero was her very own house administrator. She got to see one all the time!

Abigail didn't look convinced. "No, I won't. You're not going to come back." She looked up then, looking past the girl to Draco. "Thank you for saving me from-"

"Don't say it!" Abbot snapped, crossing her arms at the little girl. Her head dropped once more, and without another word she turned and trekked up the stairs, never once looking back.

"You're peachy," the blonde said sarcastically once the little girl was gone. "She wasn't doing anything wrong there you know."

"She talks about nonsense," Hannah replied with a wave of her hand. "She's always filling the other children's heads with these silly ideas, scaring them and such. These things must be stopped as soon as possible, lest she'll continue to fill everyone's mind here at the house with rubbish about the shadows."

His eyes flashed briefly at that, but he said nothing to Abbot who was now glaring at them, choosing to keep his thoughts to himself. She didn't seem like the most… open-minded person.

"Abigail said she didn't have a last name," Hermione said at length, stepping back into the conversation. "Do you know what it is?"

She shrugged a single shoulder. "She doesn't have one. When she first came here the old administrator had some blood word and spells done to at least properly name the girl and have records to show people who might wish to adopt her." She scoffed. "Nothing could be located. The girl doesn't exist in the files anywhere around here. I've given up even locating the name, since that's not the biggest problem with her. She's a rather misunderstood child, and her imagination has far too much fun thinking up unrealistic scenarios. That's why no one will adopt her, not because of a missing last name."

Both the opposing adults frowned, thinking that was a rather bitter way of saying something. "I see," Hermione said slowly, uncomfortable now with the feel in the air, "Then I suppose you don't like her all that much?"

"What?! Oh, Hermione, whatever would give you that idea?"

"Well-"

"Oh, phish-posh. Never mind, that's not what's really important here. What I want to know is what the two of you are doing together, wandering around?"

The blonde glanced her way. Neither of them actually took into consideration what people would say if they recognized them together, let alone knew them. The initial focus was getting Abigail back home so they could go home as well.

"We brushed into each other when I was with Abigail," he said, shrugging lightly. "Granger didn't think I could walk a bloody child home. She insisted that she help."

Abbott looked skeptical about that, but didn't argue the point. "Very well. It was nice seeing you Hermione, but I really must bid you goodbye. It's late, and I'll have plenty of things to attend to in the morning. Goodnight."

It was a quick, abrupt dismissal. They both got the feeling that Hannah wanted them out as soon as possible, but Merlin knew why. Hermione glanced up the stairs Abigail had disappeared up once more before saying goodbye, and Malfoy didn't even bother saying a thing. Hannah didn't seem to see a problem with that, and didn't bother saying anything else to him either on the way out.

Outside, the bitter wind ate at her, the breeze picking up as night grew later. "Well, she's bloody pleasant," the blonde muttered, stepping back so he could disapparate.

"I don't know why she was so unfriendly. I always liked Hannah in school."

"Yes well, I think war has soured her heart or something. She couldn't possibly dislike Abigail more."

"Yes, you're right," Hermione muttered, thinking that statement over in her mind. Hannah did really seem to dislike Abigail…

"Well, it's been joyous and all Granger, but I really must get home. Don't let the shadows get you." She knew it was a pun at their elongated night, but she didn't see the humor in it as he disapparatted away. Not after everything that night, and she was too tired to try and be funny.

As she left, she failed to look up and see the eyes looking down at her. Dark eyes watched the pair disappear, filling with tears as her heroes disappeared into the night forever, out of her life.

* * *

A few weeks passed after the late-night event with Malfoy, and yet she couldn't get the event out of her head. Hermione could easily walk over to the orphanage and visit, but after Abbott's faked joy in seeing her last time she didn't think that was the best choice. But after a failed attempt to owl the little girl with her letter being returned unopened, Hermione began to wonder.

If all the orphanages in town were like that, then she dreaded knowing what the bedrooms looked like. The place was less than suitable to raise a human life, and she thought it was unfair of the Ministry to be denying funds to establishments seeking to raise dozens and dozens of children.

Unless that was a lower-end orphanage. Then she just wondered what caused the funding to be so low.

And after her letter being returned, Hermione's mind was beginning to work in overdrive. She wanted to go back and see the child, and brighten her upset mood. Hannah might just throw a fit, but that wasn't so bad, right?

So it was settled in her mind late one afternoon; Hermione was going to go visit Abigail again, even if Hannah had a fit about it.

* * *

**A/n:** Thoughts? Concerns? Ideas? Let me know in a review lovelies!


	3. It seems My Life is Going

**A/n: **And here's chapter 3! It's even on the early side ;) Thanks to my beta **Hunter's Heir**!

**3: It seems my Life is Going**

* * *

_Malfoy~_

_I've owled to inquire as to whether or not you've reported the incident with Abigail yet. I know you're going to rant now about my prying, but I am curious about the matter. The entire thing was bizarre._

_While I have your attention, I may as well bring this up. I'll be visiting the orphanage tomorrow, in hopes that I'll be able to brighten the poor girl's mood. She was quite upset when we returned her to that place, and I would be too, if the system guiding my life was in such shambles and the woman that cared for me was so unpleasant. I don't expect this to matter to you, much less for you to care, but I thought I'd bring it up._

_Hoping to never run into you under such dreadful circumstances again~_

_Granger_

He read the note twice, his interest peaking as he did so. So she was trying to go see the child again? He couldn't say he was quite surprised given that she seemed to enjoy the kid so much, but he found it interesting that she mentioned it in the letter at all. That meant that she wanted him to know that she was going to see her. But why?

Draco never ended up reporting the incident. He found the entire situation too bizarre-much like Hermione- and reasoned that it was silly to report something he couldn't even explain. What person in their right mind would listen to a grown man rattle on about the shadows attacking him?

"You're very interested in that letter," came a voice, drawing him out of his thoughts. Astoria sat perched on his sofa, a sheet thrown around her to hide whatever modesty she thought she had left. The woman wasn't particularly important to him when it came to relationships, but on lonely nights he liked to take her into his home, and his bed. She was someone he shared alongside his best mate Blaise Zabini, a woman who knew both men quite well. Sometimes he found it disturbing how much she knew about them, but he tried not to focus on it. Astoria was a friend as well, and he and Blaise almost always attempted to steer clear of the topic of Greengrass when they were together. It was a bit too surreal.

"It's nothing," he said quickly, knowing she was interested in the note. Folding it again, he placed it inside his cloak, making a note to observe it later when he was alone and consider just why Granger was bothering to get ahold of him. "Just business matters."

Astoria made a face, instantly refocusing all her attention on her toenails she was currently painting. That woman was obsessed with her looks. "Sounds boring."

"It is," he agreed, glancing towards his fireplace. "I have some matters to attend to, however, so I trust that you can show yourself out?"

She waved him off. "It's not as though that's something new to me," she muttered. "I'll be just fine getting out of your room all by myself Draco- and I won't even steal anything."

"Lovely," he replied, trying to sound interested in the topic. He couldn't muster up enough motion though, and let the topic slide. Ensuring that he had his wand and the note tucked firmly into his cloak, he left without a second thought to the woman on his couch. He was oh so casual around Astoria, it was almost scary.

Wandering through the street once he arrived at Diagon Alley, Draco felt a sense of deja vu. Glancing around as he wandered through the crowd, he got the feeling that he was being watched, but couldn't pinpoint anyone in particular that seemed suspicious. He shook his head, dismissing the feeling.

He hadn't felt the same since that night. Ever since his encounter with that child, since he was chased by an untraceable force, Draco found himself feeling more conscious than he had in ages. He very well knew he hadn't imagined the entire event, and refused to believe it was a trick of his mind. Something pursued him and the little girl that night, something with dark intentions.

He didn't trust the shadows anymore, even the ones in his own room.

* * *

Hermione could feel how unwanted she was from the moment she stepped into the orphanage. It took Hannah nearly thirty minutes after her arrival to bother making an entrance, and when she did the former Hufflepuff looked quite peeved at her return.

"Something I can do for you, Hermione?" she asked, pausing to lean against a table several feet away from the brunette. The woman sat upon a worn out chair, the seat hurting her bum the longer she sat there. As soon as she heard Hannah speaking, she got herself up and out of the uncomfortable contraption, silently reminding herself to not sit on any other piece of furniture in the place.

"I want to see Abigail," she said, giving the woman a forced smile. "I thought we could do a bit of chatting."

Hannah's eyes darkened. "Unless you plan on adopting the girl, I can't let random visitors into this establishment."

"Well, it's not much of an establishment," Hermione muttered, watching the woman's eyes flame. "Don't you think it's good for the children here to see other people outside of the orphans here? It's unhealthy to keep children confined to simply themselves. Do they even attend school?"

"Those who are of age mostly attend Hogwarts, unless they are sought out by Beauxbaton or Drumstrung."

"And nothing before that?" she asked curiously. "I know it's uncommon, but the systems for younger children to attend school at residential institutes are free and-"

"Did you come here to give me a lecture about what I could be doing with the children under my care?" she seethed, "Or are you here to try and negotiate a talk with Abigail out of me?"

The former Gryffindor shrugged, unmoved by Hannah's obvious irritation. "Perhaps a little bit of both. It wasn't originally my intention to question your methods."

"Yet here you are, doing exactly that," she muttered.

She shrugged again. "Yes, yes I am. How did you ever even happen upon this place? It's in shambles really, and I doubt you would accept the place if the former owner-"

"My uncle used to own this place," she said tightly, her hands gripping her arms tighter. "He was killed during the war. Since he never had any children of his own, he left this place in my care once I reached the legal age. Once the war ended, I took it upon myself to care for the children here. It may have seen better days than this, but the building is still intact and I do what I can to help the children here. It's a rough experience dealing with the system Hermione, one which I doubt you understand."

Pursing her lips at that, the brunette paused. She certainly didn't know anything about the wizarding worlds system for adoption, but from what she was seeing it was poor and not beneficial to the children stuck in the care of people like Hannah. If she thought this was a suitable living environment, then she had to be lying to herself. The place was a bloody nightmare.

"I don't know anything about it," she admitted, making a note to order in some books on orphans and adoption at her earliest convenience. "But that doesn't mean that this place should be in the condition it is in now. I know funds are limited in the Ministry all around, but there has to be a way to raise money or something for repairs-"

"Repairs are the least of my concern," she replied, rolling her eyes. "And I don't need your advice on the matter!"

Hermione held her hands up, giving in. This woman wasn't willing to discuss anything it seemed. "Fine, whatever you say. As I mentioned in the beginning, I didn't originally come here to question why you seem to run things the way you do. I only came to see Abigail."

"And_ I_ told you that no one gets to visit with the children here unless they are planning to adopt. And since I know from all the bloody articles printed on you that you happen to be single, I doubt adoption is in your mind's eye right now. Until you're here for the proper type of business Hermione, I'd appreciate if you and Malfoy-"

"Hermione!" The cry halted Hannah's words, and she whipped her head around instantly to peer up the staircase alongside the brunette at the pair there. Abigail was waving down at the war heroine, a smile as big as her face plastered across her features. A boy stood at her side, taller than she, and the woman suspected that he was a few years older than the girl as well.

"Abigail," Hannah hissed, the displeasure obvious in her voice as the child took the stairs two at a time, bounding down to visit the woman standing beside her house mother. The boy followed along behind her, his hands shoved into his pockets. "Liam, the both of you! Get back to your rooms at once! You should not be speaking to her!"

"That seems a bit harsh," the brunette commented, getting down on her knees as the children approached. Much to her surprise, instead of merely speaking to her, Abigail jumped up and hugged the woman, her arms clinging tightly to Hermione's form. Surprised, she gripped the child back.

"Abigail, Liam-"

"Relax, Hannah, they're just children." She let the girl go, standing again to address the boy behind her. "I'm Hermione; it's nice to meet you Liam."

He extended his hand, seeming a bit awkward as he did so. "Pleasure."

"Don't be so uptight," the Gryffindor said, winking at a red Hannah. "Let them talk to people; it can't do anything bad. Why don't you go back to your office, room, wherever it is that you came from I just wanted to stop by, and I had no intention of taking them away."

The woman looked positively livid. She glanced between the three, her eyes like daggers as she met each of their expressions head on. "Fine, but don't take long. If you need something more, I'm in my office." Turning away in a huff, she stomped away, Hermione observing the entire scene with a critical eye. She was pissed that children wanted to associate with other people!? Was she daft? Children all over liked meeting new people; that was the stereotypical expectation. And she couldn't believe this supposed _caretaker_ was overreacting over something so minor.

_Got something to hide, Hannah?_

"I can't believe you came back!" the little girl said, clapping her hands together lightly. "I didn't think you'd ever come back!"

Hermione gave the child a soft smile. "Well, I thought you might miss me."

The little girl nodded, before peering right then left, suddenly cautious. "I'm glad you came back; the shadows are angry."

_Here we go again._ "Why are the shadows angry?" she asked, playing along with the child's game. Glancing up she expected to see an exasperated look on the elder boy's face- an eye roll, something- but he looked grave. She found that quite odd indeed. Didn't he believe she was just playing a game?

The girl gestured for her to lean forward, and Hermione did just that, noting that Liam did so as well. "They have been attacking my room every night since we met. I keep the lights on, but it makes my roommates angry. They don't like the light, because they don't see the shadows. But they are very angry Hermione; they don't like that Mr. Draco kept me away from them."

Perplexed, the woman sat down on her bum, surprised when the children followed suit. "How did Malfoy keep you away from them?"

"He saved me!" she replied, whispering loudly. "He kept me safe from the bad man, and in exchange they got angry. He wasn't supposed to help."

"I didn't think so," she agreed, the gears in her mind spinning. The child seemed to believe all of this nonsense about the shadows, as though something sinister really lurked there. But the brunette had to remind herself not to disregard the impossible, not where magic was involved. There were so many things about the magical world that she had yet to uncover, and demented shadows happened to be one of them. Considering that she stayed away from dark topics when she could, there was no way of knowing if the shadows that overtook the earth at night housed something demented or not. Perhaps she needed to look into it.

_Or perhaps you're over-analyzing things Hermione! Shadow nonsense, really? Something's gotten into your head, and it certainly isn't sanity._

"How do you know the shadows are angry?" she asked, forcing herself to play along.

For the first time since introductions were listed, Liam spoke up. "They shake the bedframes, rattle the walls. The lights only provide safety where light can touch. It's dangerous to go out at night." He glared at Abigail at that.

Instantly she realized that the only person in this mess who might believe this was just as crazy as she was, was actually thinking against her! This boy seemed to believe in the shadows as well, and that didn't make her feel good about the topic choice. These children seemed convinced that something was terribly wrong with the shadows when the lights went out, but she couldn't fathom how the walls of that place could rattle and not draw attention from others- much less withstand any sort of change and not topple over in their awful state. She simply had a hard time believing it.

"And what do you think the shadows want?" she asked, glancing between the pair. They shared a glance, taking a moment before either one attempted to respond.

"Me," the little girl whispered, dropping her gaze. "They always want me."

"Now why would they want you?" Hermione asked, placing her hands on her hips. If something honestly was happening in that place, she doubted that anything would go after this child. She seemed too sweet.

"Because, they don't like my daddy," she said, tears welling in her eyes. The boy at her side placed a hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture, whilst the woman watched the entire exchange.

"Was he a bad man?" she asked, tilting her head.

Abigail shrugged. "I don't know. I don't know who he is."

The woman frowned. "How do you know that they- the shadows, how do you know that the shadows don't like you because of your father then?"

"They told me," she whispered, glancing around. "A long time ago, right in the beginning. They told me I was bad because my father is. They don't like me because of him."

She blinked. "The shadows… talk?"

The girl nodded her head vigorously at that. "Yes! They never speak nicely." She looked around, before standing, pulling on Liam's arm to get him up as well. "But we can't talk about this anymore. They are listening."

"The shadows? Where?"

Cautiously, the child pointed upward, up above and behind Hermione's head. Peering around her back, she stared up into a shadows space, but didn't see anything remotely demented about the spot.

"They're hiding from you," she said, seemingly reading the adult's mind. "They don't want you to see."

Pursing her lips, she blinked twice before turning back. "I see. Do you think I could come back and visit sometime, Abigail? I know I haven't stayed too long, but I only meant to come by and say hello. How about I stop in again?"

"Miss Abbott won't like that," Liam said, once more joining the conversation. "She doesn't like guests here; we rarely see anyone. No one really ever comes to adopt us. We just wait until we turn eleven and can get away from this place for the better part of the following seven years."

Pocketing that information in the back of her head, Hermione nodded again. "Well, _Miss Abbott _is going to have to get used to my visits. I plan to stop in every now and then."

Abigail's face lit up. "You do!? Will you bring Mr. Draco along next time?"

The woman suppressed a smile at the way the girl said Malfoy's name, finding it adorable but misguided. She simply didn't know how big of a prat the man could be. Secretly, she thought the child had a crush on the rich bachelor, much like everyone else in Britain. They didn't have to like him after all to find him physically attractive. Hermione heard it from several friends and acquaintances more often than she liked to admit.

But the idea of speaking to Malfoy in person again felt surreal. They hadn't spoken in years, and then all of a sudden they were thrown together under the strangest of circumstances. Once in five years was bearable, and the note she sent him was strange but not completely out of place for the situation, but meeting up with him again? She predicted that he would think her batty if she brought that up, via note or otherwise! Oh, she could already hear the conversation in her head.

"_Say Malfoy, do you want to stop by that rundown orphanage again that we visited together just once to say hello to that adorable child Abigail and her buddy Liam? Oh, and I think the girl has a crush on you!"_

"_Sounds splendid Granger! I can think of no better way to spend my time than to visit unfortunate children that aren't mine and that I don't know."_

"_Excellent! So tomorrow at four then?"_

"_I wouldn't miss it!"_

Yeah, like that was going to happen. He was likelier to run around naked than to spend more time with her than he had to. They weren't exactly friends, or acquaintances really.

"I'll try to," she said, giving the children the warmest smile she could. When she returned next without the git, she'd just have to make up a passable excuse, one that wouldn't upset the child too badly. "But he does keep a busy schedule, dear."

_What in Merlin's name do I know about Malfoy's schedule? Nothing! He probably spends hours on end sitting around, doing nothing, and staring at himself._

The girl nodded, not at all deterred by Hermione's uncertainty about whether or not the blonde would show. She supposed that was one of the joys of being a child; less worry.

"You'll come by soon again, right?"

"I'll try my best," she replied uneasily, giving her another warm smile. Merlin help her, why did she ever return to that orphanage? Maybe she would've been better off not coming back at all.

_Or maybe you're just too interested in this place, and the perplexing little girl that fears the shadows in her room._

* * *

**A/n: **Keep up those comments lovelies! They help :)


	4. To Change

**A/n**: And here's a new chapter! I have a new beta for this story (I believe) so thanks to **Hunter's Heir** for betaing!

* * *

**4: To Change**

She was apprehensive to go again. Something about that place didn't seem right, and something about the uncaring caretaker made Hermione uncomfortable with the entire situation. Sure, Abigail- and Liam- seemed pleased by the idea of company, but something about that place was off. Although she didn't have much experience with the system, the entire place seemed to lack compassion. How a structure that was in rubbles, that was not being repaired anytime soon, remained open and qualified to shelter children was beyond her, but that wasn't the only thing that bothered her.

It was the lack of children. Both times she was there she never saw a soul wandering around, looking for food, anything. Usually children were uncontrollably curious, and when visitors appeared they often wanted to see who it was. The fact that she only ever saw two children was unsettling, and she found herself biting her nails the following day while at work.

Hermione was never off her rocker while at work; this was her store, her life, and she adored every single book that came and went through the doors of the place. She was more comfortable there than even her house. So the fact that she was troubled while there made her certain that she was overthinking this little girl. Nothing too horrible could be going on there, right?

Right.

Nonetheless, that didn't keep her mind off the orphanage the following day. The entire time the shop was open she was preoccupied, her mind elsewhere than on the books she sold. It was close to closing time when a familiar silhouette wandered through her shop door, the first person all day to get her up and out of her seat.

"Malfoy? What are you doing here?"

He frowned at her as he made his way to the counter, eyeing a pair of young girls who were currently looking through a shelf nearby. He said nothing until he got closer. "I was passing through and thought I might stop by. There's something I thought we should discuss."

"Abigail?" she asked, going off of the only thing she could think of that they had to speak of. Surprisingly, he shook his head.

"No, not exactly. It's not specifically about her, but the situation. I don't suppose you would be open to talking once this little store of yours closes shop for the night?"

Glancing around, she considered his question. "I have to do inventory and all my other closings tonight once eight hits, but afterwards- or meanwhile, whichever- we can talk. So long as you don't mind following me around a bit so that I can work."

He cocked an eyebrow. "You must have something to discuss about that night then too, if you're so willing to let me go wandering through your sacred store."

Shrugging, she turned away to help the two girls as they filed towards the front with a large novel in hand. She could only assume that it was a gift for someone older. "Yes, but it's about Abigail, not just the situation," she muttered. Clearing her throat, she smiled down at the pair. "Did you find what you were looking for then?"

Bored with the conversation, Draco turned immediately and wandered off, deciding he would rather search through the shelves of Granger's quaint- if not slightly overstuffed- bookstore, reading through titles instead of making small talk with the woman. Once the shop locked itself for the night and the customers were out of this always-popular store, they could discuss the reason he was there.

Her note burned in his pocket, a token that he had picked up on his way out of his home when he made the rash decision to come and speak to her. He hadn't intended to, and meant only to owl her a brief and unpleasant response about how he was quite capable of reminding himself to report an incident such as the one from the other night, but he held his tongue. He didn't want to bring up touchy things like that at this time.

Besides, he had better things to worry about discussing, like the new scar he'd received on his arm after his walk yesterday. No matter what that daft woman said, he knew something strange pursued him and Abigail the night they met. It simply disappeared before she could catch sight of it, and that was possibly his own fault. Nevertheless, something strange was out there, and after a possible second-encounter, he was through playing games. He had his own problems to worry about and couldn't afford to handle even more like these.

In the last aisle of books, he found some rather peculiar titles for the level-headed witch that owned this bookstore. He supposed that they were there strictly to please those people who had some inventive ideas of the universe, but he couldn't fathom what would make Granger of all people buy such strange novels. Picking up one title, he cringed at the name. 1,001 Ways to Capture Dark Spirits? She must've been drunk the night she bought those or something!

"Malfoy, do you plan to actually be present when we have this conversation?" she called, drawing him from his wanderings. Apparently he had wasted enough time scanning the aisles, and the shop was now closed and customer-free. He found her bent over the counter, crunching some numbers to probably figure out how much she made that day. Considering how bloody popular he knew the place could be, he assumed the profits were quite nice. "Oh, good, you've returned," she commented without looking up.

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't intend on actually making a conversation about this," he said, pulling out the letter to drop it beside her. She stopped calculating to glance at him. "For the record, I reported the bloody incident before even going home, though I doubt that anyone took it seriously." That was a bit of a lie, seeing as he'd only written the letter but not reported it. He wasn't sure he wanted to report it and then be questioned about it later.

"So long as it's been reported, it doesn't matter what people think. Why did you bring this back? I don't need it."

"You went to see her again," he responded, cutting in before she even had time to glance back at her paper. "The orphan, Abigail."

Her eyebrows drew together. "You don't have to refer to her as such! I'm sure those children don't like being reminded that they don't have a mother or father around! Merlin, at least you didn't say that to her face."

"I'd never crush a child's dreams," he said, though Hermione laughed at his comment. "I'm serious Granger. Although I might seem heartless at times I think it's unacceptable to destroy a child's self-esteem. Their peers will do that for them."

She looked alarmed, but didn't comment on the subject, deciding that they might just argue about it for far too long if she did. "So what if I went to see her? I'm a big girl Malfoy, I can make my own decisions."

"Yes, and Abbott just seemed thrilled to see us there. Look, we helped the kid and I think we're both better off if we stay away from that place."

"Why do you care if I go there or not?" she asked, looking back at her papers again. "That is my choice after all, so let me make it. It won't affect you, so butt out. Now if that's the only reason you're here-"

"No, it's not," he cut in, glaring at the top of her head. "I just think you're going to build up hope in that kid that you might adopt her, and then she'll be let down when you don't. And I'm not bringing this up to get into a controversial conversation on the topic, I'm simply mentioning it, as you did in the letter."

"Your point?"

"You must've mentioned it for a reason," the blonde pressed, leaning on his arms. "For some reason you wanted me to know that you were going to visit."

"I was hoping that from within that icy heart of yours you would see my reasoning!" she snapped, shutting a binder of papers that she moved and slid into a drawer beneath the counter. "That child adored you, and since you receive so much crap from everyone else, you should be thankful that the girl adores you so much. I think she would truly enjoy seeing you again, and it might brighten her mood in that horribly dreary house. Liam might enjoy you as well."

"Liam?" he asked, sounding perplexed. "What exactly is a Liam?"

She glared at him, shuffling some papers. "Liam is a boy that lives at the orphanage with Abigail. We didn't discuss you too much, but he might like to speak to a man, versus myself and Abigail, who really enjoyed talking about clothing."

"Poor mate," he said, shaking his head. "I might like to dress nice Granger, but even I can't tolerate a conversation between two chatty girls revolving around fashion."

Hermione frowned. "You think I'm chatty?"

"Never mind. Did you see anyone else while there, like another caretaker perhaps besides grouchy Abbott? Maybe someone in that place would listen to advice and get that place fixed up before it caves in on all the children."

"Right, other people…" her voice trailed off, during which time he sauntered around the desk to take a seat in the chair beside her, leaning back.

"Yes, the other people there. That place is enormous, and if only three people live there it's not an orphanage."

"I know," she said, reconsidering her earlier concerns. Maybe he would see a problem with the atmosphere again as well. "Only, I didn't see anyone else there."

Draco frowned. "No other caretakers, nothing? Seems a bit odd."

"No," she said, shaking her head, "It wasn't just the staff that I didn't see. I didn't see the other children. Abigail and Liam are the only people I saw there, literally, besides Hannah. I didn't even here anyone else there, and I know from experience that many of the floorboards even just on the first level creek. It was actually a bit eerie."

"An orphanage without orphans," he muttered, crossing his arms, "Right. Well, if there weren't other children, the Ministry wouldn't be funding it and the Liam boy and Abigail would be sent elsewhere, so there must be other children someplace. Perhaps they were just out?"

"I don't think so," she muttered, fingering the binding of a book, "Or at least, I didn't ask. I just talked to them really, but I didn't figure anything out. Abigail was talking non-stop about those bloody shadows again."

At the mention of the shadows, Draco's expression dropped and he sat correctly in his chair. "Did she now? Did she say anything specifically about them?"

Surprised that he was actually interested in that nonsense, Hermione blinked several times before responding, giving him plenty of time to turn this into something funny. "Um, well, she said the shadows are angry. And then she and Liam went on about the shadows wanting her, and how they can always tell when they are angry. It's rubbish really."

"Anything else?" he pressed, seeming far too eager about the topic. She didn't like it.

"Well," Hermione continued, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. She couldn't believe she was having this conversation with an adult! "She said the shadows don't like her because her father was a bad man, even though she doesn't know who that is. She also believes that the shadows can talk and told her all of this. Oh! And apparently they were hiding from me when I was over!" Rolling her eyes, she crossed her arms. "You do not actually believe any of this, do you?"

Instead of replying, he rested his chin on his hand and studied her. "What do you think of the situation?" he asked, seeming very interested in her response.

"I think that a set of lonely, bored children have some overactive imaginations and decided to create these shadows for entertainment purposes, and then their imaginations got out of hand."

"How very muggle of you," he sneered. "This isn't the other world Granger, this place has magic! Things that seem completely ludicrous to you because of that muggle background might not actually be quite so farfetched for people like myself. There are myths about the shadows you know, but they are simply considered that, myths."

Her eyes flashed. "You didn't think it was practical to mention this in the beginning!? Out with it Malfoy, what books? I'll order them immediately and get to the bottom of this!"

Draco waved his hand, signaling that she should sit back down. "Don't get overly excited about it Granger, I said myths, not novels. A quick peek through the library at my house brought up an interesting title about this particular topic."

"Oh yes? And what did it say?" She stood, collecting her things. "I have to put some things in back."

"It went on this tangent about the shadows being captured souls, souls that can't escape from Earth to pass over, but who were not pure in life and suffered for their misdeeds." He was wandering behind her through the back of her store, wondering when she would turn around and slap him for following her. Or better yet, when she would get mad that he had access to things such as that and she didn't, despite his dwindling funds.

"The book said that the shadows are bad people? Then they should supposedly like Abigail's dad since he was a bad man, right? Merlin, I can't believe I'm discussing this!" She placed something up on a shelf, before continuing on her way. "And what is the purpose of these supposedly captured souls? And what exactly captures them?"

He rolled his eyes. Leave it to Granger to pick at a topic of conversation that she didn't even believe in, and still need to know every detail. "I just skimmed the book Granger to see if it was useful, and Merlin knows I wouldn't remember everything about it even if I did read it cover to cover. It's at the Manor on my bedroom table right now."

She frowned, glancing back over her shoulder at him in the lit room. "You didn't think to bring it? It might've been nice to look through it-"

Hermione never finished her sentence. Before she knew what was happening, his eyes flashed and he pushed her roughly to the right, causing her to slam her head into a shelf as he fell beside her, her body bent in an uncomfortable angle, and she found that it hurt to open her eyes. Half a second later a loud crash caused them to snap open.

One of the shelves in her back storeroom had literally fallen over, the entirety of its contents scattered all over the floor. There was nothing extremely valuable or breakable on that particular shelf, but it was a bit alarming to see it shoved over like that. Groaning, she closed her eyes to try and wade off her increasingly awful headache.

"What was that?" she grumbled, hearing the blonde shift at her side. Barely a moment later he was letting out a string of curses, and she snapped her head up once more to see what had him so irritated. She felt any questions she had for him die on her tongue.

Eyes, a set of blue eyes stared out at them from the shadows at the top of the storeroom, on the darkened half of the space. Her mouth went dry as she stared into those seemingly bottomless orbs, hypnotized by surprise and fear for many moments before it sank into the shadows, disappearing entirely. Understandably, that made her even more uncomfortable.

"I told you I wasn't making it up that night," he said from behind her, though she didn't turn to look. "Something really did follow Abigail and me outside, and it did mean to do some harm. You best get up though, lest it try to kill us again."

She didn't respond and instead leaned her head against the shelf at her side, groaning. She could hear him stepping over her to see what the problem was, muttering beneath his breath.

"Well, hell Granger, why didn't you tell me you're bleeding?"

* * *

**A/n:** I meant to get this up earlier in the week but life got distracting. Hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner, but at a week at most! Hope you enjoyed lovelies! Want to leave a review and some feedback? Go ahead!

* * *

You can check out my competition one-shot For You if you would like to as well. It's a Dramione one this time!


	5. I Close my Eyes

**A/n**: Thanks to my new beta **Hunter's Heir**!

* * *

Draco wasn't outstandingly comfortable dealing with the gash on Hermione's forehead. He really didn't want to use magic to do it, especially since it was a head injury, but she was insistent that he could perform the basic spell properly to her cranium, even if she was slightly uncomfortable allowing him to do so. But he managed to seal the cut in her forehead without complication, and quickly put a bit more distance between them once he was finished. She looked a bit stricken, and he supposed the surprise from witnessing the odd events was still getting to her.

"Are you ever going to come back to reality?" he asked at length, tired of waiting for her to respond after several minutes, a dazed expression still fixated on her face. She shook her head, apparently trying to get rid of her daze entirely.

"Sorry?"

The blonde rolled his eyes. "Do you believe me now Granger? I told you I saw something the night I found Abigail, and you thought it was all a horrendous joke. Does it seem like I'm joking now?"

Silently, she shook her head, briefly meeting his eyes. "No, it doesn't. You were just as startled as I was, and although I don't like it, I can't exactly say that this is an inane joke on your part. You were just as startled as I was."

"Well of course I am! Do you think I'm used to playing with the shadows?"

"No," Hermione said dully, brushing her brunette locks carefully away from the tender spot on her head. "Merlin, to think that I actually thought Abigail was making up nonsense about the shadows! There's some truth to this insanity after all."

Malfoy nodded, seemingly just as unsettled as she was. "What did you say Abigail had to report about these so-called shadows when you visited last?"

"You kept her away from the bad man," she muttered, thinking back to those piercing blue eyes. "That's what she said. And now the shadows are angry because of it."

"Strange," he replied, looking away towards her endless shelves of books. "I suppose I should go with you to speak to her next time? I'm assuming you plan to visit soon after what just happened."

"Tomorrow morning," she said, not hesitating in the least. "I'll leave the sign on my door up and hopefully the customers will understand. I'm almost always open."

"I'm sure your bookworm cliental won't miss too much if you're closed for one bloody morning," he said, shaking his head at the idea. "I'll be coming with you then I suppose."

"I know Malfoy," she said, grabbing her purse. "Shall we just meet outside the orphanage? That way, we can go in together. Say around ten?"

"Sounds fine," he replied, already heading for the door. "Oh, and Granger? Maybe you should keep your lights on tonight?"

Hermione cringed at his comment, but nonetheless nodded her head. "Yes, I guess I'll be doing that." Bidding him goodbye, she waited until the blonde was out her door before she slumped in her seat, groaning. Everything just got more complicated.

Now not only did she have to potentially worry about the sanity of two children, but Malfoy's and her own as well. They weren't really buying into this, were they? But then, she couldn't explain what she just saw, or the force that pushed her shelf over and dropped various things, resulting in her head wound. Tomorrow after their stop by the orphanage, she would probably need to go look into that.

Glancing around her shop, she quickly locked the door and apparatted out, not bothering to floo. The floo was in her back storage room, and after what just happened, she didn't want to go back there and chance being attacked again when she was all alone. With the shop closed, who knew how long it would be before someone actually found her. Shivering at the thought, she got out of there as quickly as possible.

Still, the shadows adoring the walls of her own home didn't seem any more comforting once she arrived. Deciding she probably wouldn't get much sleep that night, the brunette fell on her bed, taking ages to fall asleep. And when she did finally fall into the comforting blanket of dreams, she was greeted only by a set of blue eyes, eyes that stared out at her from the shadows.

Eyes that looked very, very angry.

* * *

When she arrived outside the orphanage at five 'til ten, Hermione was irritated to see that Malfoy was nowhere to be found. The weather was quite bitter that day, and she hugged her jacket close to her body in a feeble attempt to ward off the chilling breeze. The brunette stood there for almost twenty minutes before an uproar from inside caught her attention, the noise carrying through the paper thin walls of the orphanage.

She recognized the two voices, and cursed beneath her breath. What exactly didn't he understand about waiting _outside_ the establishment? Peeved she stormed in, eyes looking around for the source of the noise. It didn't take much to locate the two adults in the center of the entranceway, glaring daggers at each other.

"Woman, I could buy out this entire bloody place without even denting my pocket money," the blonde said, waving his hand about him with an air of superiority, and already Hermione knew this couldn't be good. Hannah looked livid.

"I'll have you know that I'm doing a perfectly fine job managing this place! Without me those children have no one! I manage this orphanage and work this job out of the goodness of my heart! Do you really think I would be here for any other reason?"

Draco shrugged, completely ignoring Hermione who was now standing only half a foot from the bickering adults, attempting to ignore the stares from the children who had gathered to view the spectacle. The small gathering was certainly composed of the most children she had seen since her first visit to the place.

"Your clothes speak volumes Abbott. Why do you dress so wonderfully if those children have such poor living conditions? If this is a Ministry funded establishment like I'm assuming, then this place should be in better shape than your clothes. Working for a currently indebted place will not make you enough money to buy the clothing you're wearing. It makes me skeptical about your intentions here."

Her cheeks were scarlet. "Are you saying I steal the money allotted to this place?! That's ridiculous! I'm doing the best I can here Malfoy to help these children have a decent life! And you've no right to come in here and accuse me of stealing or anything else! I am nothing but good to them."

"She says otherwise," he replied, inclining his head towards Hermione, whose eyebrows shot up. Why oh why did he drag her into this? "You're a bit snappy from what I've heard, and considering my last visit here I wouldn't say that you're an exceptionally pleasant person by any means. It's no wonder that those children run away at night, what with the living conditions here. I'd run away too."

Hannah's eyes flashed, and she pointed one manicured finger towards the door."Out! Get out of here right now! I refuse to be insulted in my own workplace!"

He shrugged again, and the brunette desperately wished that he would just shut up. She didn't really want to step into the middle of things, but feared that she would need to if he didn't shut up soon. Obviously something had to have bothered him for the man to be making such a scene, but she didn't dare question what just then. Glancing away, she spotted Liam and Abigail leaning over the railing at the top of the stairs, watching the argument just like several other children. Stepping away from the bickering duo, she got closer to the staircase, drawing the attention of several of the bystanders.

"We came to visit you," she said, speaking to Abigail who happened to be the only child who actually knew who the both of them were. Liam nodded to her, though he seemed a bit perplexed about the presence of Malfoy. "Think you two could step outside with me for a few minutes? We wanted to talk to you."

"That's going to make Miss Hannah angry," Liam said, speaking up before the girl could. "And she's already unhappy today."

"We'll take care of her," Hermione assured, though she intended to speak to Hannah once she got Malfoy to leave the woman alone. He was creating a scene, and seemed to be having a jolly time doing so. "I wanted to talk to you about something important."

"What's that?" Abigail asked, piping up. They still had the attention of a few select children, who were all looking rather tired. She wondered why that was.

"If you come outside, I'll tell you. Maybe we'll even get lunch?" There were several places in the nearby vicinity that she knew she could afford, but her main point was to get Malfoy away from Hannah, for she could still hear the pair arguing behind her. Some of the other children looked disappointed that they weren't included as Abigail's face lit up, but Hermione tried to ignore it. She certainly couldn't afford to pay for everyone's lunch, and she was just trying to get them to go outside with her without sounding dangerous or creepy. That's the last thing she wanted.

Abigail was halfway down the staircase at that before Liam could even react, and he raced to catch up with her. Before the children reached Hermione, they whispered amongst themselves, keeping their voices surprisingly low for kids. Stopping in front of her, Abigail perked up.

"Can we have fish and chips?" she asked, and Liam sent her an irritated look. Smiling at the girl, Hermione nodded, knowing the perfect place to take them.

"Sure, let me just grab Malfoy." Stepping away from the pair who shuffled towards the door, she moved to the blonde's side- who was still yelling at Abbott- and tugged on the collar of his coat. "Come on, we best be going," she hissed.

Draco stopped yelling and turned to glare at her. "Do I look like a dog to you? Wait one bloody minute!"

"Oh, stop arguing with her! It's not like she's actually going to put any real effort into fixing this place up." The brunette made sure she added the last bit in, hoping that Abbott would pick up on her disdain for the establishment.

"I am fixing it up! What's wrong with the two of you!? Neither of you knows how hard it is to manage this job!"

"Whatever you say," the woman replied, literally dragging Malfoy towards the door before he got in an argument again. "I'll believe that you're fixing things when I see it."

"You won't see it because I don't want either of you returning to this place!" Hannah scolded, eyes widening at the pair by the door. "Liam! Abigail! Back to your rooms at once; you won't go anywhere with them!"

"But Miss Abbott-" the girl began, only to be cut off.

"No buts! You two have caused enough trouble and I'm sick of it! This is a non-debatable topic! Back to your rooms this instant!"

"There you go, being uptight again," Draco said, grabbing the boy by the shoulder so he could steer him towards the door. "Relax would you? Children need to go and get out, and we're even offering to take them on a little trip. You should be grateful!"

"You can't just leave with them! It goes against the rules!"

The blonde scoffed, rolling his eyes. "It's surprising that you can uphold any rules in a dump like this. Don't worry Abbott, they will return blemish free in a few hours, so get your knickers out of a twist!" He quickly thought over his words. "Actually, I'm not sure we'll be returning at all. It's almost child abuse to force anyone to live here."

Her jaw dropped open, and the man was glad he'd finally one-upped Hannah. Steering the boy in front of him towards the door, he allowed this Liam character to lead them out into the street, the overcast clouds prescribing rain for later on in the day. Abigail and Hermione followed them out, with Hannah barking orders for the other children to get back to their rooms.

"Does she always act like such a dictator?" Hermione asked, not really meaning to speak out loud. Liam cleared his throat before answering.

"Yes. She doesn't seem to like children, though it's odd that she decided to work here then. I don't know why she's here anymore."

Hermione nodded, glancing sideways at Draco. She imagined that his expression mirrored her own look of uncertainty, for that certainly seemed like an unusual statement. For the time being she let it slide, weary of bringing anything up before they bought the children some food, which would hopefully work as a method of persuasion so that the pair would indulge them in the tales of the shadows.

"Let's grab lunch," the woman said, keeping her promise. "We have lots to talk about over lunch."

The duo nodded, clearly not picking up on her implication. But Hermione wasn't too worried about it, not when they had Merlin knew how many hours to speak with the pair. Hopefully, something useful would appear from all this talking, or at least she hoped. After all, this meeting was going to cost her one long chat with the demon-Hannah, something she didn't look forward to.

* * *

**A/n: **Super short chapter, I know! I wanted to get something out so I have another week- hopefully less depending on when I post again- to let my inner muse speak to me. I'm a bit stuck right now, which I can imagine is slightly disappointing seeing as last chapter was interesting. All reviews are appreciated especially now that I am stuck! Let me know if you have any ideas too :)


	6. Begin to Pray

**A/n**: Thanks to my beta **Hunter's Heir**!

* * *

**6: Begin to Pray**

Draco insisted on paying for the meal, and Hermione wasn't certain if he was flaunting how rich he was or if he didn't think she could afford the expensive restaurant he picked. It was probably a bit of both.

The adults ate a small breakfast plate each, but the children downed two or three plates each, eating more than their fair share of the bread. Hermione and Draco actually found themselves sitting back, waiting for the two to finish, exchanging looks. Did they never eat or something?

"Do you ever go places this fancy?" Hermione asked at length, and Liam stopped eating briefly to shake his head.

"We don't go out to eat. Miss Hannah brings back the scraps she can and we eat that. Old bread, lots of broth, water, the like. But _this_, this is amazing!"

The adults exchanged another look as he continued to eat. "What do you eat on a daily basis?" she continued.

"A roll," Abigail said, licking her lips. "Sometimes butter if she actually managed to grab any. And water, always. We had noodles forever ago, and then we eat some bread, and sometimes we have chicken broth later."

"That's not a lot of food," Draco pointed out.

The girl shrugged. "Miss Hannah says it's all she can buy, so we better eat before someone eats ours."

"She buys rat food but she doesn't buy enough of it to buy seconds?" the blonde asked, sounding horrified. Hermione imagined that he probably didn't understand what it was like to not have seconds of anything.

The pair cocked their heads to the side. "Are you supposed to have seconds?" Abigail asked at length.

Draco dropped his head, waving his arm out to the waiter as he sighed, hand against his head. "Waiter, two more refills here. And bring dessert; a sample of everything."

Hermione's eyes widened and she took a large sip of her drink to keep from commenting when the children's eyes lit up. This meal would cost a small fortune, and she knew it wouldn't even dent his pocket money.

"We get dessert?" Liam asked, sounding more than a bit surprised. "This must be like it is at Hogwarts! No wonder no one comes back after going there!"

Again, they exchanged a glance. The living conditions these two children sounded like they had seemed to be getting worse the longer they spoke. If eleven year olds refused to return to their foster home after seeing the other side of life, then that was bad. They were practically still babies!

Perhaps todays talk would consist of more than just the shadows.

* * *

"Have you had anymore problems with the shadows?" Hermione asked later, sitting on the grass. They had relocated to a park, and currently the trio sat on the grass in the sun, and Malfoy remained in his place on the bench, unwilling to sit anywhere on the ground.

Abigail glanced around, then nodded. "Yes. They said they met you."

"Me?" she asked, "Or us?" She pointed between the two of them.

The child pointed to both of them, then dropped her hand. "The shadows are unhappy." She leaned forward. "They don't like you."

"Why not?" Malfoy asked.

"Because you'll help me," she whispered, glancing at Liam. "They don't like anyone who might help us."

"How do they know we're going to help you?" Hermione pressed, looking between the pair. "We don't even know what we're doing at this point."

"They said that they tried to attack you," she continued, shuddering. "They don't like you near us."

Hermione cringed, remembering the gash she received in her head last night from a supposed attack. "Yes, they did. But we're fine, see? Just because they don't like us doesn't mean that we're in danger."

The little girl shook her head, looking down at the ground. "You don't know yet."

"They're just shadows," Draco reminded, "They can't completely hurt you. I mean, they pushed over a shelf, but they aren't physically there, so they can't do too much, right?"

The child shook her head. "They can do anything."

"They can do some things," Hermione corrected, eyeing Draco. "Now, are you sure they're called shadows?"

"That's what we call them," Liam replied, looking at the two adults. The blonde got the feeling that he didn't like them very much, and he assumed that was probably because Abigail seemed to be getting upset. They were good friends, and he almost seemed to guard her.

"Okay," Hermione replied, scribbling something on a pad of paper. Over her shoulder, the man took a peek, realizing that she was making notes. Did the girl plan to do some investigating?

"Do you know who your mother was?" the woman continued, catching Draco off-guard. He peered back at the two children, who were both looking at her oddly. Liam looked confused, but Abigail appeared to be thinking.

The little girl's hand moved up to grab something around her neck, an item that neither adult had ever noticed. She paused briefly, as though deciding if she wanted to reveal the item or not, but she did, pulling the necklace from beneath her shirt, taking it off over her head. The chain grew and shrank depending on how she pulled it.

"I think this was my mommy's. I think she gave it to me when I was really small." She handed the necklace to Hermione, emblem up, and the witch took it, staring at the necklace oddly.

It was a snake design, with the letter 'B' written on the front. It didn't really make too much sense, considering that the child's name didn't even begin with a b. Maybe it was a mistake, or even a parent's initial? Hell, it sounded like this poor kid had no memories of her parents, so it could be the father's initial for all she knew.

"When did you start living at the orphanage?" she continued, looking down at the necklace. Draco was studying the design over her shoulder, thinking it looked strangely familiar.

"When I was small," she said, shrugging. "I never knew my parents. Liam was three when I went there, and he watched me when we were little."

"Did you?" the woman continued, glancing up at the boy. He shrugged, looking uncomfortable as he blushed. "That's a very kind thing to do."

"Well… she cried a lot and she was squishy and weird. No one else wanted to be her friend, so I was."

"Good for you," Draco replied, stifling a laugh at the boy's description. "I don't suppose you remember seeing anyone back then?" The child shrugged, and he took that as a no.

"Do you mind if I hold onto this?" Hermione asked, closing her hand around the necklace. Abigail shook her head, pushing the woman's hand closer to her own body.

"No. I trust you. You can keep it until whenever."

"Thank you," she replied, about to pocket it when the blonde behind her tapped her shoulder, indicating with his hand that he would like to look at it. Not seeing the harm in this, she handed it over. "And you know nothing about your dad?"

"Nope," she replied, popping her lips. "The shadows hate him though. I think they don't like mommy either."

"And that's why they bother you?" she asked.

"Yes!" The girl tapped her chin. "One of them wanted to talk to you yesterday, Miss Hermione. He really, really did."

The woman frowned. "Oh? How do you know?"

"Because he said so! Oh, um, he said his name was… Fred? Yes, his name was Fred!"

"They have names now?" Draco asked, feeling slightly ridiculous that he was still having this conversation at all. Now they were naming the shadows? Maybe Granger had been right from the beginning, maybe this was all a figment of their imaginations. Or maybe they were going insane, and simply believing the wild imaginations of two children.

But Hermione didn't seem quite so dismissive of the actual idea, and actually appeared a bit apprehensive about it all. "Fred… what?"

"I don't know. He didn't say a last name."

"Does he look like a shadow though?"

"All shadows look like shadows silly!" she replied, shaking her head. "Sometimes, they let you see their eyes, just to scare you I think, but they can talk you know." She tapped her head. "They talk in here."

Hermione didn't quite know what to say to that, uncertain about exactly what she was thinking. If what this little girl said was true, if these _shadows_ could honestly talk, then the only Fred she knew was deceased, and the twin brother of George. It was kind of eerie though to hear the girl name someone she had once known, and she wasn't sure how she felt about that.

Besides, the shadow from last night didn't say a word when it _supposedly_ tried to crush them with one of her shelves, something she still needed to fix at the shop. Oh, all of the hypothetical possibilities and situations were beginning to give her a headache.

Dipping away from the conversation for a few minutes, they turned to different, cheerier topics. The children seemed happy to get off the topic, and their faces brightened the longer their attention was turned elsewhere. At one point Draco handed them several coins and told them to go and buy some drinks from a stand several feet away. They took off quickly, grinning. Once out of earshot though, his attention moved to Hermione.

"What are you thinking?"

"I think we need to do some research," she said, biting her lip. "Especially about whom her parents are. The girl doesn't know her last name, so it's going to be mind-numbingly difficult, but I think we might be able to do it. Something about that girl's origins makes the shadows hate her guts."

"So we're really believing this?" he asked, hesitation lingering in his voice. "We're really going to fall victim to this madness?"

"I thought you were already on board with this idea," she said, cocking an eyebrow. "You're the one that wanted me to believe you saw something that night."

"Yes, well, that was before she started giving those things _names_, Names, Granger, and do you know what names mean?"

Hermione shrugged, not entirely sure what he meant.

"If they think that those _things_ really have names, or if they actually do, that makes them real. You don't name things that you can't see, hear, touch; but they must be able to see them, somehow. The shadow that chased Abigail and I down the street was cloaked in black, and I didn't give that much thought until now. I can't even tell you what this might mean."

"Neither can I," she muttered, looking up at the sky. Behind the blonde a couple stood gawking at him and she cringed, having forgotten that they would draw so much attention in public together. "Perhaps we can do some research on them as well."

"_We_? I thought this was just going to be a you thing."

She frowned. "Why would I be the only one researching? We're both in this right now, so unless you want to turn your back on whatever is going on here, you better buckle down and stop thinking that I'll do all the research. You're just as confused and intrigued by this concept as I am. So don't try to escape it now."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. I guess I'll just go through the archives at my home searching for talking shadows. Merlin, my ancestors would roll over in their graves if they knew I was searching for something so ridiculous."

"Oh good, you can start there, and I'll start by looking through the books in my shop and anything that can possibly be delivered."

"And when do you suppose we start this madness?"

"Tomorrow; then you can stop by my shop when it's close to closing and we can compare notes." She grinned at him, turning around as the children returned. Arguing anything now would only draw the youngster's attention, and she very well knew that he didn't want that to happen.

Well, she knew how to have the last word in an argument, didn't she? Pocketing the necklace Abigail had handed over; he made a mental note to look at it again later when he was back at the Manor. Screw Hermione, she could have it back tomorrow, since she was going to be cruel and make him research things too.

* * *

Hannah was nowhere to be found when they returned with the children, something that both relieved and unsettled the two adults.

"Should we be concerned that she ran away?" the blonde muttered, peering around. Hermione shrugged beside him, not quite sure what they should do.

"Will you two be alright tonight?" Hermione asked, peering at the two. "We probably won't be back for a few days."

Their faces fell, but nonetheless Liam nodded. "We've lived here a long time Miss Hermione; we'll be okay."

"If you say so," she muttered, looking between the pair. After seeing how malnourished the children here were, and how controlling Abbott could be, she felt very uncomfortable leaving them behind. "Do you have access to a Floo?"

"A what?" Abigail asked, wrinkling her nose. The brunette looked over at Draco, who appeared alarmed. She would take that as a no.

"Never mind. You don't have access to an owl, do you?"

"Miss Hannah doesn't let us use hers," Liam said, rubbing the back of his head. "And she doesn't let anyone have pets. That's part of the reason no one comes back after going to Hogwarts."

Again, Hermione felt her heartstrings pull as she listened to these two children tell her all about how awful their lives had been, and how much of a basic childhood they had been deprived of. "We'll go out to eat again," she assured, mentally reminding herself to bring a butt-load of money next time so she could pay for something instead of having Malfoy pay for it all. "We promise."

The two children grinned, but a moment later a door down the way slammed open on their level, the doorknob hitting the wall with a loud thud. Hannah stood down the hallway from them looking peeved.

"You two, to bed this instant! I'm sure they've already fed you, so you will go without supper!" With fleeting looks, the two children dashed away, making their way upstairs and away from the angered woman. Hannah barged down the hall, her expensive looking heels clicking on the floor. Draco made a note of them, wondering if Astoria had a similar pair.

"Hannah we just took them out for a little bit," Hermione said, speaking up before Draco could. "You don't need to be so huffy about it. All we did was take them out."

"You're not adopting them," she spat, turning her nose up. "You broke the rules; you took children out of this place when you have no intention of adopting them. All visits are supposed to be monitored! You will not be returning."

"Abbott, these walls are practically caving in; they can probably take themselves out," the blonde cut in. "And stop with the rules nonsense. If you want to play that card, go ahead, but you're breaking plenty of rules yourself. There are strict rules in the Ministry for things to be upheld for an orphanage to stay open. Your standards are subpar, and the fact that this place hasn't been shut down already is a bit surprising. Now would you quit complaining? I'd be better off just reporting you- it'd probably end this nonsense faster. Maybe if you spent less on your attire and more on the building that's going to collapse someone might walk through that door with a smidge of respect for you."

"You're not going to respect me though," she snapped. "And we've already been through this. I'm going to make improvements. Now, as the manager of this establishment, I'm demanding that you leave and stop coming here! Unless you come in next time with the intention to adopt, I don't' want to see either of you back here! You're causing uproar, and the other children are jealous that only Abigail and Liam get to go outside. I will not stand for this!"

"It's better that they get out of here than be trapped all day," Hermione pointed out. "At least they get to see something besides this dreary exterior for a change."

Abbott cocked an eyebrow. "Do you two even realize what you're doing? You're going to make this so much harder on them! You think that I'm the bad guy in this picture? Just wait until you stop coming around."

"What are you going on about now?" Draco asked, groaning.

She shook a finger at that. "Right now, sure, you're doing something supposedly wonderful. You're letting them see the outside world, you're buying them food, and you're letting them have fun. But how do you think they'll feel when you stop coming around? Since you're not adopting, it's bound to happen. How do you think those two _orphaned _children are going to feel when you don't come around again? Abandoned, let down? You're going to end up just as bad as the parents who left them here!"

Hermione was forward in a moment, backing Abbot up against the nearest wall. "_Don't_ go there!" She didn't draw her wand, for there was no need. "Don't tell me what you think is going to happen, when you don't even know the half of it! Don't try and tell me what is good and what isn't when you can't even invest the time in these kids to care! If you cared at all Abbott, this place wouldn't look like shit. There would be food on the tables. They would wear half-decent pieces of clothing! But you don't care, so don't make me out to be the enemy." She stepped closer and Abbott's eyes widened, though they were already pretty large. "And stop telling us that we can't come here. You don't even know why we do. How do you even know that we don't plan to adopt, or that we don't plan to rat you out to the Ministry?"

Hannah stayed where she was as Hermione stepped away, turning on her heel as she stormed from the place, throwing the door open as she left. Draco let her go ahead of him, turning back to Hannah with a cocky grin.

"I think you pissed her off." And then he left too, quite surprised that Granger blew up like that, though he found it extremely entertaining. Outside though she was sitting on a box, head in her hands.

"Problem?" he asked, stopping in front of her.

"What are we going to do?" she muttered, lifting her head. "What I just told Hannah…"

"It was a bunch of words Granger; don't read into it too much. Tomorrow night we'll talk some more, okay? Let's just get out of here now before you yell at Abbott again."

Silently agreeing, she stood and big him goodbye. As they disapparatted, Hermione couldn't help but wonder what fate had in store for her now.

* * *

**A/n:** Here's an early update for all of you! Let me know your thoughts and I'll try to get another update up within the week, okay?

* * *

**Important**: I am joining a site for a Fandom that does donations for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Basically, writers are posting different things for the HP/Twilight/Hunger Games fandoms, and readers can donate to read these new stories 3 months in advance. All donations are giving to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to help find cures for blood cancers, among all other cancers. Please, visit my profile and take the poll asking what I should write. I'm posting a link there for people to follow, to take you to the page and you can view specific details. There are many fantastic writers participating, each submitting their own work. A small donation allows you to read all the stories on the site, and your money is going towards a wonderful cause. Please vote for what I should write, and then consider donating to the cause.


	7. Then Tears of Joy

**A/n: **And here's chapter 7! It's even on the early side ;) Thanks to my beta **Hunter's Heir**!

* * *

**7: Then Tears of Joy**

He tapped his quill against the wood of the desk, looking down at the bills surrounding him. The vaults at Gringrotts could cover that easily enough, but he wasn't happy that he needed to dip into all the savings his family had built up over the years. They always had money pouring out their ears, coming in by the bucket every other minute. Now that their social standing had dropped and their trust value was even lower, no one wanted to collaborate with the Malfoy's, aid in the business or even sell them some worthwhile stock. The funds would save them easily enough, but that wasn't what Draco wanted. He wanted to keep earning his family money, not concern himself about when it would run out.

But things weren't looking up, and they hadn't been for a while. They weren't anywhere in debt, but lately he received more bills than checks, which wasn't settling. Someday when he was gone and had an heir of his own, he wanted that child to be able to have fun and really enjoy his early twenties, instead of worrying about money like he did now. He didn't want his children to be weighed down by stress the way he was. Sometimes, it seemed like it was too much.

Shuffling through the pile of bills in front of him, he came across something peculiar. Sitting on top of a new stack of mail sat something he wasn't used to looking at anymore. There was no large "notice" splattered across the front of the manila envelope, and instead had a proper address to a real person instead of an organization. He quirked an eyebrow, surprised by his find. He opened it immediately, and his eyebrows shot up.

A _check_!? He hadn't seen one in ages. Flipping the letter open attached to the lump sum of money, he read the short note attached, his eyes drawing together.

_For reminding the world that you have a softer side~ Padma Patil _

He hadn't spoken to Padma in years, even before the war broke out. It was probably back in fourth or fifth year that they even exchanged a word. Yet she was sending him mail? Picking up the envelope, he checked for a business seal. _Strathmore Institutions _sent him a large check? That was interesting, considering that he thought they hated him all that time. But the photograph in his hand could explain their sudden change of heart.

It was a snapshot of earlier that day, of him in the park with Granger, Abigail and Liam. It did give off the impression that he had a softer side, and even that he was married if someone didn't know the back story of the people in it. He was certainly _not_ married to his childhood enemy. They were simply working together now that a series of peculiar events brought them into the light of a certain orphanage situation. He wasn't going to correct the institution though on their misunderstanding if it let him get a large sum of money. I mean, who would?

Glancing at the clock he realized it was about time to go meet Granger. Her shop would be closing soon enough, and he wanted to be around for when it did so he could get this conversation over and done with. Discussing the livelihood of a bunch of orphans was about as far out of his comfort zone as one could get. His life was so different from any orphans that he could hardly relate, and probably thought that some of the situations they lived in were more extreme than they really were. He couldn't help it though that his perception of things was skewed by the life he had lived.

As he got up he pocketed the check. If he left it amongst the bills, it would be lost for Merlin knew how long. Maybe spending so much time with Granger could benefit him instead of irritate him. The children were one thing, but spending large amounts of time with someone you used to hate was a bit awkward. He knew that she agreed, even if they never actually discussed it. The whole situation was surreal.

He would just get changed and be on his way. His comfortable clothing he wore at home would make a mockery of his image if he wore them in public. People might actually have strokes if someone spotted Draco Malfoy wearing _sweats_. And he was in no mood to be the reason behind multiple St. Mungo visits that day. He'd just change into his traditional black slacks and tailored shirt, and everything would be as right as can be.

Except for the fact that he was going to visit Granger. Leaving his office he passed his father, who sat with his head bowed in the living room. Trying not to disturb the quiet moment, the blonde walked as quietly as he could towards the other side of the room. But Lucius had sharp hearing, and looked up quickly at his son.

"You rattle," he said, his head slowly turning away from his son again as the young man stopped. "The keys in your pockets jingle."

"I don't have keys in my pockets," the man replied, eyeing his father. The man was having a bad day today that much was apparent. He didn't normally twitch. "Where has mother gone?"

"In the gardens," came a voice, and Draco looked up to see Narcissa coming back into the space, eyeing her husband. "I was in the gardens Draco."

"He should go to bed," their child replied, eyeing his parents. Narcissa was checking her husband's face and chest, repeating the same things she'd been doing for years.

"He wanted to get out of his room, Draco," the woman argued. "He spends most of his time there. I know that the Healer said we shouldn't move him very much, but sometimes I can't help it. He can't just sit in that room all the time, not when he is still perfectly capable of moving on his own."

"He doesn't move mother because it's bad for the ruptured part of his brain," the blonde scolded. "We're only making it worse by causing him to travel around."

Narcissa sighed. "His therapist says he needs to move every now and then," she whispered. "Just leave him to me Draco, I'll handle him. Go back to the finances. It's not like you care about him anyway."

The blonde scoffed and turned away, leaving his parents to handle the situation between them. His father, whose brain was both ruptured and strained could not really function anymore. They were waiting for a miracle to come around, or at least his mother was. Draco stopped caring whether or not his father got better ages ago. But to his mother it meant the world, and he could only begrudgingly listen to her woes. After everything, he didn't think he could learn to love his father anymore. She could handle him all she wanted.

Besides, he had someone he needed to go and meet.

* * *

"Your wrist is bleeding," he commented, watching her tidy things up in her little store before they began talking. She had a poor excuse for a bandage tied around the red spot, and shot him a glare as she stacked some documents.

"I cut it earlier moving the shelf back into place. You know, the one that nearly crushed me." She tightened the band. "Before you go into it, I've already tried to stop the bleeding. Every spell I tried didn't work. So I'm bandaging it until I can look into it some more."

"Whatever," he said, lounging against the counter. "Did a lot of things break? It sounded like quite a bit hit the floor."

She shrugged. "It was all books on that shelf, so nothing really got ruined. Though when I moved it back up I did find quite a bit of blood that rained down on me. I dodged it and let the shelf fall back down, but one piece caught my wrist. That happened this morning."

"And it hasn't stopped yet?" he asked, scrunching up his nose. "Have you been wearing the same bandage all day?"

"No, I've changed it out twice."

His eyebrows shot up nearly to his hairline. "That's quite a bit of blood you're losing Granger. That bandage is rather soaked."

"I'm aware," she snapped.

"Feeling light-headed yet?"

"No."

"Strange, after ten hours you should feel something."

"I barely even notice it," she huffed. "Aside from the fact that I keep dripping blood on things. Honestly, it doesn't even hurt."

Draco frowned. "Strange."

She finished straightening up what she could before turning back to him, fiddling with the bandage again. "I found something rather strange in the back," she said, looking away. "I thought you might want to look at it."

"What exactly is it?"

"Just… come here." She beckoned with her damaged hand and he followed her into the back without hesitation. He wouldn't let her uncertainty on the matter scare him. Following her back to the space where the eyes appeared and the bookcase fell, he stopped briefly, his breath catching in this throat.

"_What_ is that?"

"I… I don't know. It was here when I lifted the bookcase up a second time. I've tried moving it both with magic and without, but the word won't disappear. I did cut my fingers quite a few times though."

Lying at their feet lay a word, scripted in broken glass with flecks of what Draco assumed to be Granger's dried blood. The word _Beware_ stared up at them, the broken glass causing their skin to crawl. One particularly stained piece stood out to him, and it dawned on him that it was probably the piece that cut her wrist.

"I can't get rid of it," she said, gripping her hands together. "I've got the feeling that the shadows are behind this."

"Supposedly a shadow shouldn't be able to move anything," he muttered.

She cocked an eyebrow. "Well, one _supposedly_ chased you and Abigail down the street with a dagger, right?"

"Right," he grumbled, looking away from her. "Shadows don't have any mass though. They can't hold or move things."

"Or they shouldn't be able to," the woman agreed. "But there's nothing stereotypical about the shadows we've encountered. They do appear to have mass about them."

"Or so it seems."

Hermione nodded, hugging herself. "Something about this situation isn't right. I'm beginning to think that whatever we're dealing with are more than just shadows."

"Really now?" he mocked. "What gave you that impression?"

Her head whipped around. "Abigail says they talk! And more importantly, she said one of them called himself Fred. And I knew a Fred once Malfoy!"

"Who-" he clamped his mouth shut, realizing who she was talking about. The Weasley twins, one of them died during the war. He didn't recall their names, but he did believe one of them began with an 'F'. So now she was being contacted by the dead through some shadows? Now he was really confused.

She tilted her head. "I see you finally figured it out."

"Yes well, let's not read into that too much yet until we understand things a bit better. It could be a name she picked to say after all. They are still young children Granger, it's possible."

The woman bit her lip and looked away. Sure, there was a possibility that the shadows never gave a name, but she didn't really want to believe that. She wanted to think that the shadows might know Fred that she could speak to him.

Okay, so maybe she'd lost a bit too much blood. She sounded a bit loopy, even in her own head. Thank Merlin these were just her thoughts, and Malfoy couldn't hear any of this. He might really believe she'd gone off the deep end otherwise.

"You're right," she agreed, deciding to drop the topic for the time being. "It's something too complicated to think about right now. What we should really be focused on is the reason why we decided to have this meeting; the orphanage, and those children. I can't even believe that the place can call itself an orphanage considering how awful it looks. Hannah's done a really terrible job maintaining it."

He shrugged, hesitantly leaning against a shelf, peering up at it as he spoke. "You never know maybe we should just turn your threat into a reality."

"What threat?"

"The one about ratting her out to the Ministry. They'll do something for sure, else relocate the kids."

"And what exactly do we do if those kids are relocated?" she asked. "We're able to break the rules right now because Hannah can't do anything, not when the rules she's breaking are so much worse. If all those kids are relocated they're actually going to be moved someplace decent, where there's probably a real, full staff. It'll be harder to see them in a legitimate place like that. And more so, they could be split apart. Then there would really be a problem. I doubt we could take them out of the orphanage grounds anyway. Even if we were to pay a good deed and report Hannah, I doubt that they're really going to let us wander around with two children under their care. Considering how horrible this situation is right now, why would we push it and make things harder on ourselves?"

"By doing nothing though we're making things harder on them by leaving them there."

She sighed. "I know, and you have a point. But what can we do? Unless those kids are our own, the time we can spend with them and discuss things is unfortunately limited. Neither of us are looking for a long-term investment into this situation, and raising a child is certainly one. We might have the finances, but let's be honest, we weren't even planning on going back to that place until we saw their living conditions."

"And now that we have it's difficult to turn away," he agreed. "There's nothing alright about that place."

"No, and none of the children there deserve that lifestyle. But like I said Malfoy, we can only do so much from our position. Neither one of us is looking to adopt, and unless we both adopt one of the children, this is never going to work. As soon as anything is reported, we lose contact with them and can't help them or ourselves. And frankly, I'm not about to drop this situation. Now that we've gotten involved, I have a sneaking suspicion that we aren't going to be left alone. I'm pretty sure these shadows are going to continue to stick around and make our lives very difficult."

He groaned. "I have enough on my plate right now. I don't need this popping up as a problem too."

"Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that either of us are going to get out of this scot-free," she replied, rubbing her wrist. "We're going to have to figure out how to handle this, and hopefully fix the whole problem."

"And if we don't?" he pestered, wrinkling his brow. "What then?"

"Let's cross that road when we get there," she replied, continuing to rub at the bandage. He didn't miss this.

"Are you sure that's not bothering you? You do an awful lot of rubbing for something that only bleeds without you noticing." He rolled his eyes. "Glass is glass Granger, whether something with mass moves it or not. Maybe you should go get it looked at or something. You're bleeding quite a bit- look! It's beginning to seep through the bandage."

Hermione reached down, covering her wrist with her hand. "I told you I've already tried to heal it without success. I don't know what St. Mungo's would do other than ask a lot of questions. And I wouldn't even have any answers for them. I'm sure it'll get better.

"And I'm sure you'd sooner let yourself bleed to death than go and let something slip on those children," he replied, rolling his eyes. "You might just traumatize them if it got that severe."

"It's _not_ going to get that bad! Despite your insinuation, I do have some common sense. I'm not just all about book smarts, I can survive in the real world too."

"Right. I'll believe that once you get that wrist of yours checked out. But I'll be willing to bet that you don't do anything, and it'll still be bandaged and red the next time we meet."

She rolled her eyes. "Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"Yes, Abbott. She's completely barmy if she thinks that what she's doing is helping anyone living there. I bet she's got something to hide."

"As do I, but what? She's got money; that's for sure."

"And a lot of it," he agreed. "I still think she probably uses the money that the Ministry gives her and saves a minimal amount for the children under her care. What I find curious is that she appears to be the only adult there."

"It is strange," she replied, nodding. "I've had similar observations. I just don't know what to make of it though. I mean, what do we do? Snoop around."

He smirked. "That sounds like a splendid idea actually!"

"I was kidding Malfoy."

"Oh, come on, Granger. Back in school you used to sneak around with those two friends of yours all the time! You would just be doing it as an adult now."

"Yes, an _adult_. How would we even pull that one off Malfoy, hmm? She's suspicious of us both."

"That's why there's two of us," he reminded, wiggling his eyebrows. "One to distract and irritate, and the other to investigate. I'm sure if we only said the right things, we could really push her over the edge."

"It's possible. We both have fairly sharp tongues."

"The sharpest," he said, waving his hand. "Your friends lack witty comments Granger, but you at least have enough sense about you to say something interesting every once in a while. I think you've been picking up on my attitude recently."

"I've seen you less than twelve times since we reunited," she replied, rolling her eyes. "And I certainly hope nothing about you has rubbed off on me. The point is Malfoy, what you're basically saying is either one of us could play either part."

"Exactly, though I vouch that you do the snooping. Digging through Hannah's drawers and locating her unmentionables is not something I want to do."

"And you think I'm excited for it?" she asked, beginning to head back to the front. The storeroom wasn't the warmest of places, and she wanted to start locking up for the night. Besides, the front had seats. "I think _you_ should do the snooping, because girl's are easily riled up. And I am a girl Malfoy, even if you ignore the fact most of the time. I know exactly what to say to really piss her off in a matter of seconds."

"So what? I'm a playboy as most people call it. I can piss anyone off."

Hermione rolled her eyes again as they exited the storeroom, turning to lock it up. "Well, don't we sound cocky today?"

"Always. But I'm serious here Granger, I'm not snooping."

"Well, I'm not either. It makes more sense that I be the one to hold an argument with her! Besides, one way or the other we need to do some investigating. I know the main point of us temporarily getting along is to help those kids, and ourselves, but we'll also help them by getting them some decent living conditions. And that's going to involve snooping."

"I know," he said, rubbing his temples as he sat on the counter. "Now if only one of us would volunteer for the position."

* * *

**A/n:** Here's the new chapter! Hope you like it :D Now, who do you think should do the snooping? Let me know!

For everyone who commented about the name mix-up in chapter 3 involving Pansy, it's been fixed, as I did mention that she was dead in chapter 1. It's been changed to Astoria, just so everyone is aware. Sorry about that! That's what I get for not writing notes sooner.

Don't forget to follow the link on my profile to the Leukemia page so you can place a donation! Help those with blood-borne cancers and read some amazing stories before anyone else!


	8. Stream Down my Face

**A/n**: And here's a new chapter! Thanks to **Hunter's Heir** for betaing!

* * *

**8. Stream Down my Face**

Hermione wasn't happy when they met up at her shop the following day. The plan was to meet there, go to the orphanage, hopefully create the smallest scene possible and capture Hannah's attention. She didn't even want to think about how things might go if the children watched her battle with Hannah again. They might think it was funny or exciting, but that wasn't the point this time to just get under Hannah's skin. She planned to make some chaste accusations and piss Hannah off as much as possible, and some of the things she said might not be too polite.

"Are you sure I'm the ideal one to be snooping?" he sneered as they walked, in a fowler mood than usual now that he had to go digging through Hannah's things. "I'd much rather have you do this. Besides, you might just end up in a fight with her instead of distracting her."

"Whatever keeps her occupied Malfoy," she grumbled, wandering up towards the door. "Maybe an argument is better. Could buy you more time."

"And what am I looking for?" he snapped, stopping her outside the door. "I don't want to just meander around in there. We don't actually know how long she will remain distracted."

"You brought the camera, right?" Hermione asked, leaning against the door. "The interior of her room will be proof enough that she's lying about how well off this place is if we can snap a photo."

"You mean if _I_ can?"

"Right. Look, the point is that all we need is a bit of proof. Take whatever you think she won't notice."

"And you don't think that she's going to notice if one of us disappears?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"She might, but hopefully I'll be distracting enough that she won't even pay it a second thought."

"Yes, hopefully. For Merlin's sake, I'm probably going to end up getting an earful from that woman for this. For the record, if she tries to scream at me I'm blaming this whole ordeal on you."

"Thanks," Hermione grumbled, turning away. "You remember our signal in case she tries to go back in?"

"Of course. Now let's get this over with. The sooner we're finished the sooner I can go home."

Deciding to not argue anymore with Malfoy, she turned and shoved the door open, entering the orphanage. Hannah was not in the entranceway priorly and the duo ignored the few scattered children sitting nearby, looking their way. She felt guilty that she wasn't paying them any mind, but he moved her along in the direction of Hannah's abode.

The door to her secret sanctum opened before they could reach the door- thankfully- and her head poked out, only for her expression to sour. She must've heard the sound of the doors opening, but just didn't think too much about it. Now though, seeing who was there, she shut the door quickly and stormed over to them, eyes livid like usual.

"I don't know how long it's going to take to get the point across," she snapped looking at the two, "But I have no interest in you being here! For the last time, stay _out_!"

"You haven't realized yet that your opinion really doesn't matter too much to us, have you?" Hermione asked, arching an eyebrow. "If we honestly cared about whether or not you wanted us here, we would think twice before coming here. But we don't, and therefore we opt to not listen."

She tightened her hands. "This is _my_ orphanage Hermione! What I say goes!"

"Except for us," she reminded, beckoning between the two of them, "We do whatever we like."

"And lead little kids on," she huffed, looking around. None of the children seemed to currently be listening, else they were doing so as inconspicuously as possible. "They don't need the two of you, not unless you're here to adopt. But since you're not, I'll just be-"

"Of course we're here to adopt," Draco said, startling the two women. They looked up, eyes large, and he could see that Hermione was trying to figure out what he was getting at. "She'll talk to you about the details," he continued, patting the startled woman's shoulder. "She's just so excited to be adopting."

Abbott's eyes were practically popping out of her head. "You… you're lying, aren't you?"

He nudged the brunette beside him, and thankfully she caught on quickly to what he was doing. "What? Of course not! Why do you think we've been spending so much time with those two?" Reluctantly she grabbed Hannah's arm, spinning her around as she sent the blonde a death glare. "Come on, let's go out front. I want to talk to you about this in private."

"My office-"

"Oh pish posh," the woman said, continuing to drag Hannah away. "Offices are so dreary! It's a lovely day outside, and we should enjoy the outdoors! Come on now, M-erm, Draco wants to see the children alone for a bit."

The man shook his head as the pair left, headed towards the door. Why he decided to throw out such a ridiculous idea he didn't know, but it would certainly get them into some trouble. He had a feeling that Abbott would not forget that conversation anytime soon, but at least Granger had her wits about her. Aside from his name slip-up, she caught onto his trick fairly fast. That should both stun and distract Hannah long enough for him to do some practical snooping. And he didn't even have to worry about how to get away from the two women.

Peering around briefly he slipped inside her abode, unaware of the two sets of eyes peeking out at him as soon as he wasn't looking. Once inside, his eyebrows shot up.

Well, now he was certain he knew where all the orphanages money went, and he immediately pulled out Granger's rubbish camera and snapped a few pictures of the office before him. Everything was beautifully done, with the type of furniture adoring the space that one might also find in his own Manor. Expensive tastes that he knew would cost quite the galleon to acquire. It was no wonder the rest of the place was a pile of rubble, considering how lavishly decorated Abbott's office was.

He quickly set to work, peering through drawers and files to see if he could locate something pressing other than how the space was decorated. That might prove that she was misusing the money, but not that the place was malnourished nor how the bloody hell she obtained ownership of the place to begin with. His eyes scanned over a few framed certificates, and one particularly caught his eye.

_Annie's Orphanage, housing the less-fortunate for thirty years_. He vaguely recalled the crumbling name on the front of the building, and wondered who Annie was. Apparently she was the last owner before Hannah. Moving on he got to her desk and started searching through things. Apparently she wasn't too concerned about the children snooping, since everything was unlocked.

He pulled out a stack of papers and again a name caught his eye- _Annie_. Reading through the surprising document he discovered that Annie was the only other owner of the place, ergo the name of the orphanage. There were a few snapshots of the building from outside, and he noticed that they were from six years ago. The place actually looked fairly nice, and he found that surprising. Whatever happened to Annie?

Shifting to the next drawer his eyes paused as he caught sight of something and he slowly looked up. On the wall opposite the desk stood a shadow, a shapeless form draped in a cloak that resembled that of a dementor. For once single moment, he thought it was one. But no, it was just a faceless shadow with no owner, eyes unseen. He didn't move, uncertain what he should and shouldn't do now that it was present.

The thing didn't move, and he wondered if it was his imagination. Closing his eyes briefly he opened them, discovering that the figure was gone. Disregarding the instance, he continued to look.

In the bottom drawer of the desk he uncovered the most interesting thing yet. It was a description of the woman who founded this place, Annie, though he didn't care too much about that. What he did find interesting was the side note at the bottom.

_Miss Annie has been fighting level two cancer the past few months. All of the children in the orphanage wish her well as a new caretaker is set in place as Annie goes off for treatment. We hope to see her back here soon._

Cocking an eyebrow, he looked down at the date on the article. It was from last year. Did that mean that Hannah was the temporary caretaker, turned permanent because Annie died? Frowning he took a picture of that so he would remember to look it over later and moved on.

On the other side of the office he discovered several bookshelves, all of which seemed to house simple books. Unwilling to admit that there was nothing suspicious about the books he waved his wand over the selection and waited to see if anything shimmered green. If something did, then that meant that there was excess space someplace. Oddly enough, something actually shone green.

He was removing the books from their spot when the door opened and his heart stopped. Well hell, why didn't Granger think to alert him of this? Turning around, waiting to hear Hannah's shrill voice bounce off the walls, he was met with something surprising.

"Liam, Abigail, get out of here," he hissed, looking at the pair. "What are you doing?"

"What are you doing?" Liam countered, wandering into the room. Abigail followed, keeping close to his side. "Hannah says we're not supposed to come in here."

"Um, right, well, I was invited in," he said, lying through his teeth as he pulled out the hidden object behind some shallow books. "I'm cleaning."

"No you're not," Abigail replied, shaking her head. "You don't have your cleaning stuff! And anyway, all your papers say that you don't do any cleaning. You wouldn't want to clean this place."

"Oh, I don't even want to be in this place," he grumbled, staring at the item he'd uncovered. Why the hell did she hide another book behind some larger books. And to think he just spent time pulling that out! Flipping it open, he checked to see if it contained anything interesting.

"You can't read her things! She'll be so mad!" Liam shook his head at the older man.

"I assume so," Draco grumbled, peering at the two as he pocketed the book and began replacing the others. The fact that he saw the name Annie on the front cover was enough of a reason for him to take the book with him.

"You can't steal!" Abigail screeched quietly, gripping Liam's arm. "She will be so very mad!"

"I'm borrowing it," he reminded, still playing off his lame lie. "Remember, I was invited in."

"I don't think you were," the little girl argued. "Hermione is outside with Hannah, and they are talking really loud. Are you really going to adopt us?"

He blanched, and peered between the two hopeful faces. He knew this idea would come back and blow up in his face. Now what was he going to do?

"It depends if things work out," he replied sheepishly, looking at them. "We have to get approval and all."

"And then you're going to adopt us?!" the little girl cried, only to be shushed by the two males. "Both of us?"

"Like I said, it depends," Draco replied, wishing he'd said something else earlier. He didn't feel like being the heartbreak of these two hopeful kids, but it seemed like he might be. He just had to go and blurt out the stupidest lie possible, didn't he? He wasn't quite sure how they would get out of this one without crushing feelings. Wandering to the door nearby, he peered in and discovered it to be another beautifully done bedroom, and snapped a picture. She sure did like to pretend she lived a wondrous life, didn't she?

"Why are you taking pictures of Miss Hannah's room?" Liam asked, squeezing in behind Draco to look in. "It's so pink!"

"Yes, it is," he grumbled. "And I'm just-"

He paused as he felt heat against his leg, and with wide eyes realized that Hannah was on her way back. Peering down at the two children who followed him in, he cursed. Well, getting out quickly probably wouldn't happen. Looking around quickly he noted a half open closet across from them and grabbed both children's arms, hauling them into the closet as he jumped in too, shutting the door as quickly and quietly as possible.

"What are we doing Mr. Draco?" Liam hissed.

"Shh!" He hoped the pair would keep quiet, else he was going to just place a silencing spell on them and give up. He heard the door to the office open half a second later, and was thankful he'd already replaced everything in the room before camping out in the closet with two kids. At least they had the possibility of going unnoticed in there.

Placing his ear to the door he listened to see what she was doing, and felt the two children copying him. Well, that was just lovely. He heard her walk past them to what he assumed was the desk, and it was quiet for several moments save for the shuffling of papers. Then the footsteps backtracked, past the closet and he heard the door open and shut again. He could feel the heat from his wand going down, and several seconds later it was cold again. She was a good distance away now. He didn't waste a moment throwing the door open and the two children toppled over.

"You can't tell her you were in here, okay?" he said as the two straightened themselves out. "If she asks, you were upstairs the whole time."

"I can't say I saw you?" Abigail asked, tilting her head.

"No," Draco replied, waiting to see that both children were nodding before he continued. "I can't talk anymore right now, okay? Let's get the pair of you out of here and you can go back upstairs. I need to go find Granger."

"Are you going to come back?" Liam asked as they paused at the door. The blonde peered out to ensure that Abbott really was nowhere nearby before beckoning for them to come out.

"When there's time," he replied as they walked down the hall, keeping his answer vague. After this ordeal he wasn't quite sure what would happen. As he watched the two children hurry upstairs, sending glances his way as they climbed, he pulled out his wand and took the alert spell off. He didn't need that heating up the rest of the day.

Granger entered back into the orphanage a few moments later, looking a bit pale and concerned. Abbott on the other hand looked giddy. "Oh, there you are!"

"Here I am," he grumbled, unhappy with Hannah's overly exuberant attitude.

"I gave Hermione all of the paperwork," she said, placing a hand briefly on his shoulder before removing it. "Social Services will be by in the next few days to see that the two of you are getting along nicely and that adoption is practical. I suppose I never had much of a reason to dislike the pair of you."

Draco's eyebrows shot up. "Social Services?"

"Well yes. It's requited that anyone who's adopting has to be checked out immediately. Although marriage isn't required for this type of thing, it is recommended." She sent the both of them a pointed look. "I already gave Hermione the information to fill out, so you're all set. Once everything gets back to me I'll floo you about adopting Abigail and Liam. Oh I'm sure they'll be excited."

The pair went numb as they said their goodbyes, exchanging glances the entire time between each other around Hannah's bubbly figure. She was way too happy about this, and that was another thing to wonder about. Once outside, they stopped at the end of the street and stared at one another.

"What the hell did you just get us into?" Hermione grumbled.

* * *

**A/n:** Yup, here's chapter eight. Go ahead and review lovelies! Besides, it was early too.

You can still sign up for the cancer donation! Check out my profile page for the link!


	9. With Arms Wide Open

**A/n**: Thanks to my new beta **Hunter's Heir**!

* * *

"You're blaming _me_ for this?"

"It was _your _idea!" They were back at her shop later that night, the place becoming their usual spot for meeting. Obviously after what happened earlier there were things that needed to be discussed. "What the hell are we going to do now, Malfoy? Social Services is going to come check us out!"

"You couldn't have evaded this topic while you were talking to her?" he asked, rubbing his temples. Sure, it was his idea, but she was the one to execute it, and she did a rather poor job at it if he might add. "Didn't you ever think to chop off the idea before going back into the orphanage?! If you just changed your mind at the end we wouldn't be having this problem!"

"She was suspicious!" Hermione cried, throwing her hands up. "She kept going on about how I needed to be serious about this, and kept mentioning that she was considering sending Liam and Abigail off to separate orphanages."

He glared at the brunette. "So, to put it simply, you fell into a _trap_?"

"It could be true," she rationed, rolling her eyes. "Hannah simply despises us being anywhere near the place, and her threat isn't a total sham. I'm willing to bet that she's been thinking on it for a while now."

"Whatever," he grumbled. "We still have to figure out what we're doing. So what did you tell her? We're posing as a couple or something?"

Hermione didn't respond, and his heart stopped. No, she didn't! "You're kidding me, right?" he asked, his voice growing darker as he realized just what she'd done.

"I didn't exactly say that we're together," the woman muttered, tapping her fingers together, "I just didn't argue with her when she said that it's usually easier for couples to get kids. She asked and I just… nodded my head."

"Oh, well that's just great!" He stood from his stool, pacing. "I'm so glad that you finally indulged me on the relationship we're apparently in."

"Don't be that way Malfoy," she groaned. "I did what I needed to in order to distract. And what exactly do you have to show for my efforts?"

Draco waved a hand, continuing to pace. "Not now. One ridiculous problem at a time. I'm a bit more concerned with this sudden relationship between us than the crap I found in her office."

"Right, well, what do you suppose we do?"

"I suggest that we don't lie about relationships!"

"I'm not lying," she argued, "I'm merely stretching the truth. Besides, it's not like we have to really be in a relationship."

He cocked an eyebrow, stopping his pacing long enough to lean against the counter and stare at her. "Oh really? Have you ever dealt with Social Services before Granger?"

"Well, no-"

"Exactly," he snapped, rolling his eyes. "Social Services doesn't play around. We're enemies to start with, and that's going to play a major factor in this entire investigation. We can't fabricate a relationship overnight and pass it off to the investigators. They'll ask our friends, and then we'll really be in major trouble."

Sighing, she rested her hand on her face. "Then what do you propose we do? She said it's easier for couples to adopt, and to call ourselves a couple we must actually have some sort of connection between us other than distinct hatred."

Draco frowned, rubbing his chin. "What if we played it off as a mutual agreement?"

"Excuse me?"

Straightening up, he cocked his eyebrow at her again. "Have you ever mentioned to those petty friends of yours that you desire children?"

"Um… occasionally?" she said, a bit confused. Sure, it came up in conversation from time to time, but she'd never had a full on conversation about the matter. In her eyes, it wasn't something to really plan for until she found a man to settle down with. And so far she didn't find anyone that quite suited her. Ron was fine really, but they didn't click the way they thought they would. That relationship fell through right after the war.

"Well, you need to do more than that," he declared, causing her eyes to widen. "I have a plan."

She sighed, waiting to hear what that was. For some reason she didn't think this would be anything good.

* * *

"You're acting strange Hermione."

She tried to smile at Ron's comment, she really did, but there was nothing happy in her heart at the moment. She'd owled her friends right after speaking with Malfoy, following another one of his insane ideas simply because it was the only one they had that might be possible. So Harry and Ron were the two she contacted first, leaving Ginny alone since she knew the woman was having female problems, though she hadn't asked for details. She opted not to.

But of course she was acting strange! She'd called her friends down for one insane motive, knowing she couldn't reveal the true reasons behind this talk until after Social Services buggered off. If she did then she risked losing the realistic shock that would sprout across their faces, forwarding this entire plan. She didn't much like lying to them, but for the time being it appeared necessary. She couldn't just leave Liam and Abigail to suffer!

Even after Social Services cleared out and they got the children, she still couldn't tell her two best friends everything. They might think she was insane if she rattled on about dangerous shadows. Yes, they'd consider her absolutely loopy.

"I've just got a lot on my mind," she said, laughing nervously. She didn't quite know how to begin this, and Malfoy had an awful lot more confidence in his plan than she did. "I've been trying some changes in my life."

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, this being the most she'd said since lunch began almost twenty minutes ago. "What do you mean Hermione?" Harry asked, setting his fork aside as he leaned back in his chair. Ron was all ears as well.

"I've decided to take a different direction with my life," she replied, smiling nervously. Oh, she could already see their heads exploding over this.

"What direction?" the ginger prompted, looking worried. "You aren't doing something really rash, are you Hermione?"

If he only knew. "You could say that."

"What are you doing then?" Harry prompted, cocking an eyebrow. She looked between her two best friends, preparing herself for the bitter spat that would ensue.

"I've decided to try and adopt a child."

The duo's faces lit up at that, their concerned expressions disappearing. "That's great!" Ron remarked, going back to his food. "Not what I expected, but great."

"Two actually," she continued, and the pair paused again.

"Um… are you sure that's a good idea?" Harry asked, seeming perplexed. "I mean, it's just you all alone, and two children would be an awful lot to adjust to and handle-"

"I won't be alone," she interrupted, watching the pair freeze. Ron leaned away from his food again, eyes wide.

"Hermione, is there something else _you_ want to tell us?" The raven-haired man asked, leaning forward.

She didn't hesitate, too afraid that she'd never get it out if she didn't go for it. "I'm joining in with Malfoy to adopt two children."

Needless to say, Ron broke the table.

* * *

For Draco, announcing his predicament to his parents was no easier than what Hermione was doing with her friends. From what he understood, the Granger's were off in Australia or something, though he didn't know the details about that matter.

It was only his mother he told about the dangerous idea, having been too concerned with giving his father a bloody heart-attack to attempt that one. His mother might be angry over the situation he proposed, but if he killed his father she'd probably disown him. The woman was insane like that, caring for a monster that could never love her again.

"I refuse to accept this!" she spat, eyeing her son. "We will not be soiling our blood in such a fashion!"

"Mother it's not like I'm sleeping with her," he reminded, rolling his eyes. "We're setting up an agreement to adopt some kids. It's already set in play, and it's something we both agreed to. End of story. I just thought I should bring it up so you don't find out in the papers first."

"The pap- I forbid this! Draco, stop with this insane idea right now! There's absolutely nothing to gain from this!"

"Oh but there is," he remarked, already having planned for her retaliation. "Granger wants the children, so fine, I'll play along. In exchange it's going to look marvelous to business associates of all sort, and we might actually make some money. She'll be happy with herself, we get the good edge and publicity we need, and everyone's happy. It's not like I just jumped into this."

_Actually, this all came together this morning. Bloody children, bringing shadows into the mix. If they were just normal orphans I wouldn't even need to have this conversation._

"It certainly sounds like you did!" Narcissa spat, crossing her arms. "I haven't heard anything about this until right now and you want to stand here and tell me my home will soon be invaded by a bunch of egotistical Social Service workers and investigators?! They will have a fit when they see your father!"

"So send him to our other home for the next few days," Draco remarked. "He will survive."

"I will do no such thing!"

"Then leave him here," the blonde responded, rubbing his temples. "It's not my job to help with father."

"It's your duty! You have to honor your father Draco."

"There's nothing to honor."

Narcissa's eyes widened. "Draco, I know that what your father did in the past wasn't always good, but he did have good intentions in mind. He wanted the best for us." she said in a soothing tone, placing a hand on his shoulder, but the blonde shrugged it off.

"No, mother, he wanted to _be_ the best. Why do you think he stepped all over us trying to remain Voldemort's favorite?"

"He did nothing of the sort!"

Malfoy sighed, having heard enough from the woman that gave birth to him. "Say whatever you like Mother, but it won't make a difference. We both know that nothing is going to sway my opinion on him anymore."

She pressed her lips into a thin line, staring on at her son. He knew this was something she didn't often like to accept, but on occasion she actually did. When she held her tongue and said nothing more on Lucius, he continued with what he'd been saying.

"I don't know the specifics yet about where we'll be staying-"

"She will not come here!"

"-_or _if we will live apart," he continued, trying to speak over his mother, "But we'll work out the kinks later. Basically, everything is already set in stone as far as this goes. It's happening."

"I think the Mudblood has poisoned your mind son," she muttered, shaking her head.

"For the record mother, it would help if you just used her last name."

"I'd rather not."

"I could always make sure they see father."

"I suppose a last name isn't too disgusting." Yet nonetheless, Narcissa shivered as she spoke. Well, at least Draco could say he had a better tolerance for others than _that_.

"Excellent." He didn't bother with pleasantries as he rushed to the floo, knowing that it would only give her more time to argue the point. She wasn't going to be happy about this, that much was expected. Truth be told, no one would really be happy, even him and Granger. This situation was just a bit too twisted to make anyone happy.

Actually, that was a lie. Liam and Abigail would be stoked. He only feared what exactly they would do with the children when the shadow problem was fixed. He didn't particularly want a long term child at that age, or a child at all.

But those were things he feared thinking on. Right then, he had other things to worry about.

* * *

"You told your friends, right?"

"Malfoy, I'm not going to jeopardize anything by not telling them! They know, and more importantly they know that I'm doing this with you. I've probably been shunned for it."

"I've likely been disowned," Draco countered, leaning against her counter again. They were back at her shop once more, their natural hang-out becoming the place of meeting. The shop was closed up and it was late in the night now. Yet they had so much to discuss.

"Social Services didn't come today," she said lightly, drumming her fingers on the counter. "Perhaps tomorrow."

"Yes," he agreed, imagining how that would go. "I can't wait."

"Are we still going to say that we're moving in together soon?"

"What other choice do we have? It won't look like a real joint agreement if we live separately. We may as well have just adopted separately if that's the case."

Hermione frowned. "You know I couldn't adopt separately. The finances!"

"Well if I wasn't doing this with you Granger they'd likely not let me anywhere near those children. I don't come off as a people person."

"You don't come off as an anything person." He scowled.

"I'll have you know that I'm fully capable of- what are you looking at?" He cut his sentence short when he saw her jaw drop and eyes widen. She was staring behind him and he didn't like that one bit. Turning slowly, his eyes enlarged as well.

Between the set of shadows behind them stood a shadow. It was cloaked, just as Draco recalled from the first time he saw one, and the light above its figure flickered every few seconds. No expression could be seen, no gender defined. Hermione wished it was more like Peter Pan where the shadows had a definite gender because the appeared exactly as their owners. But nothing in life could be that simple.

They stood uncertainly staring at it, having not seen anything like it since the first night, and this was Hermione's first experience witnessing one like that. Her wrist suddenly started burning the moment she saw it, but she didn't let on. Instead she stared on with saucer-like eyes, wondering how the hell you got rid of something like that.

She got lost in the moment, too concentrated on both the pain in her wrist and the horrifying figure in front of her to really do anything. She didn't even realize that Malfoy was moving until light caught her attention from the end of his wand.

Her eyebrows shot up. It would figure that his patronus was a snake. How cliché.

The shadow backed away almost immediately after seeing it, sliding back on the floor. It was a bit awkward to watch the snake pursue something that glided while it slithered impossibly fast across the floor. She noted that the creature didn't look complete, and slowly realized that the patronus was weak.

_Of course it is. How many happy memories can Malfoy really have?_

The shadow continued its backtrack until it disappeared into the far wall. Malfoy's patronus disappeared at that, and she glanced his way, her nerves still on edge.

That was… quite terrifying if she put it frankly. Sighing in relief that it appeared to be gone, she lifted her arms and rested her head in her hands.

"I think they're threatening us-"

"Shit," Malfoy said, catching her off guard. The pain in her wrist was still evident but her head shot up at that, looking around the room. Did it come back already? But no, they were still alone, but she caught onto what he was staring at a moment later.

Her wrist was bleeding, the blood soaking through the bandage. Their eyes met and she cringed, knowing he wouldn't drop the topic now. Grabbing her arm he set it on the counter evenly, glaring at her.

"You have to get this checked," he snapped, shaking his head. "Social Services _really_ won't approve."

* * *

**A/n: **So not only is this late, but it's also a filler chapter. I apologize for not being on my game quite as much, but it's difficult. I'm getting ready for school and dealing with a crap load of hours at work on top of it. And to make this worse, my muse evaded me all week for pretty much every story I have.

I know though, excuses. Hopefully you guys can forgive me though! Send some love this way and I'll hopefully get the next chapter up in about a week. Also, if you're bored you can check out my new stories Footsteps and The Otherside of Life (I'm not sure if this one's continuing yet). Enjoy!


	10. Under the Sunlight

**A/n**: Thanks to my beta **Hunter's Heir**!

* * *

**10. Under the Sunlight**

Getting Hermione to St. Mungo's to have her wrist checked out never actually happened. Insistent that she was perfectly fine they argued for nearly an hour before she declared that she would go once she'd finished closing up the shop. He offered to accompany her, and she promptly said no. Deciding that he wanted nothing more than to be out of her presence, Draco didn't complain at the time.

But once he was gone and out of the way she paused, waiting in her dark little shop for many minutes after his departure before she pulled back the bandage, wincing in pain. The bandage hurt, but it was nothing that she couldn't deal with. Blood loss wasn't a problem to her, not when she knew what lay underneath.

The skin where the cut was began turning black mere hours after she received it. That was one of the main reasons for the bandage, so that Malfoy didn't notice she was hiding anything. It passed as a cut and nothing more until today when it decided to bleed so much, something she wasn't happy about. Now he was concerned, and that wasn't something that she liked.

Trying another healing spell, she stared sadly at the skin that remained open and black. It looked like the cause of an infection, but she knew better than that. This was not a mere infection, no, but the aftermath of being touched by something so purely evil that she couldn't get it out of her. She vividly recalled the horror of being touched by something that felt solid when she knew it wasn't, screaming out to no one as it disappeared. She'd been alone in her apartment that night, and after the attack she'd curled up in her living room, all lights on, thinking over what just happened and how it was possible.

That's when she really started to feel for those children. If it could do that from a mere touch to her skin, dared to hurt her, then what would those things do against two children who didn't yet have wands? It was alarming.

Maybe that's why she was so compelled to help and get them out of there, because she'd seen what happened when darkness took hold. Malfoy, well, she wasn't sure how much he'd seen, or if the shadows followed him around once they split apart. Why she was targeted over him she didn't know and couldn't understand, but if that was the truth of the matter then she was in more danger than he was.

Another reason it might be beneficial for them to unfortunately live together when the children came. They might not want to, but it would make the situation seem more real and the children would feel like an actual family. Plus, then they would all be safer. Perhaps the shadows were scared of him- or they just didn't bother him yet, one of the two.

But she wouldn't let him know what was happening to her, not yet. She had other things to handle first that were far more important, like Social Services coming.

* * *

In the end they ended up agreeing that it would be helpful overall to be together when Social Services arrived. They received an owl early that morning declaring that Hermione's abode would be checked first and Draco promptly came over. They also decided in the end to take on both visits together. Maybe it would seem less scripted that way.

"We have to call each other by our real names you know," she said as she fingered her skirt. "It's more believable that way."

"I know," he grunted, rubbing his eyes. "It's just so…"

"Awkward?"

"Exactly. You've been Granger since… forever. Considering our history it's almost sinful to use your real name."

She shrugged. "Well you're going to have to sin a lot then, because we can't just drop our guard after these two visits. Since its adoption they're going to do check-ups on us and the children."

"Yes, unfortunately," Draco grumbled, relaxing further into her couch. It was comfortable, but horrendously miscoloured. Who the hell bought an orange couch and thought it was acceptable?

"Well, give it a go then," she continued, taking another bite of her breakfast. He looked up at her and cocked an eyebrow as though she was barmy.

"Are you serious? You want me to sit here and _practice_ saying your name?"

"Well _Draco_, you've been avoiding it for over a decade now. I figured it wouldn't hurt to have a trial run."

He rolled his eyes. "I am capable of pretending you know, Hermione, so don't act like this is excruciatingly hard on me. I've known your name, but for years I was taught to ignore the fact that you even had one. My father was a wondrous showman at teaching me how to dehumanize a person."

"Good job," she muttered, looking away from him. She didn't offer up a reproach to his words, and he wondered what he said to make her so unhappy.

They sat in silence for many minutes before he spoke. "You don't think they're expecting us to be in love or something, do you?"

Hermione's eyebrows shot up and she turned back. "Oh Merlin, I hope not! I've been telling people it's a mutual agreement!"

"Well, some people are going to think it's a secret romance then," he interjected, rolling his eyes. "So what do you propose we do if that is the case? Deny it and possible lose any ground we have towards getting those children or do we lie and make a show of it?"

"It would be hard to lie," she remarked, thinking. "Most couples kiss."

"And you think that's hard?" he asked, scoffing.

She blinked. "Well… it's intimate."

"People kiss all the time Gr- Hermione, but it doesn't mean it's anything serious. It's one way to tell if you're into a person or not."

"I suppose-"

"And if we went with a bullshit story about romance then it would be expected," he continued, "So we best pick now. Romance sells better with adoption agencies and shrewd investigators, but it will be hard to explain to those dense friends of yours and my parents would never let the topic go. It would be a ton of drama."

"But it might make it easier to get them here and out of Abbott's control," she interjected, tapping her chin. "I think that's most important Draco. Since we're involved in this shadow nonsense we will need them to be completely detached from the orphanage before we file any sort of report. The faster they come to live with us, the faster Hannah can be reported and the rest of those children can get out of those dreadful living conditions."

He sat for a long time thinking once she finished. "So you really think going through with a facade of romance is a good idea?"

"I think it could be the most beneficial. Once things work out we can part ways with the shadows gone and each raise one of the children."

Draco paused at that, mulling her words over in his head. He kept forgetting that they would actually be keeping the children once all this was said and done, as awkward as that sounded. Granted he didn't really want a child, but telling her no at this point would be futile. They were in too deep to even consider backing out now, and he'd just have to accept that at his ripe young age he would be burdened with someone almost half his age.

He hoped to father Liam once this was all said and done. He didn't know what he would do with a little girl to care for- that was more Granger's realm.

* * *

She felt heavy when the woman finally left later that day. Two women came to investigate her home, asking many questions that Hermione felt uncomfortable answering. They were private matters that they pried at, and she didn't appreciate it much. Draco surprisingly remained there throughout the entire experience, despite looking terrified the entire time.

The very first thing Social Services wanted to know was whether or not they were romantically intact. When they weren't satisfied with her explanation of "having common interests" and "setting up a mutual agreement" Draco stepped in and surprisingly declared that their current feelings towards one another were undetermined, and they first planned to adopt and care for the children before seeing where things led. They might end up romantically tied, and they might not. Everything was just a trial and error type of thing just then, and they were going to take things slow. She was surprised he could actually think that quickly on his toes about _anything_ romantic, let alone about something concerning her. Needless to say, she was quite stumped and followed the other three around through her apartment. Wasn't he the one concerned with dealing with anything romantic just a minute ago?

Probably the most startling thing about the entire experience was when he kissed her. Yes, _kissed _her! One of the two Social Service investigators made a rude comment about how they had to be bluffing, and to prove her wrong Draco bent over and kissed the brunette as though it was nothing more than a walk in the park. And this was no ordinary peck either that ended in a half-second either. No, this was a tongue-in-mouth lip biting kiss that nearly knocked Hermione off her feet and made both the investigators uncomfortable about the public display of affection. Hermione was flustered throughout the rest of the walk, though the pair left soon after. They sent the couple uncertain looks before departing, and she feared what would come from this.

She was seated on her loveseat before she spoke. "You couldn't have kept it simple?"

"A modest kiss isn't going to sell a lie," Draco remarked dryly, knowing what she was discussing before she could even bring it up again. "They're not going to have any doubts in their minds now that there's something between us."

"There's nothing between us!" she reminded, blushing at the memory. Merlin, he made butterflies appear in her belly that really didn't need to be there, and it was all because of that kiss! He was way too amused by all of this. "Would you stop smirking!?"

"You're kind of adorable when you blush Granger," he taunted, ducking as she chucked a pillow his way. "Hey! Take it as a compliment! That's probably the kindest thing I've ever said to you."

"Yes, but you're only saying it because you find this whole thing amusing, don't you?"

"So what if I do?"

"There's nothing amusing about this!" she cried, standing up. "We have to deal with the same search of _your_ home in just a few days! How are we going to get away with that one when you seem peculiarly worried about the entire thing?"

Draco blinked several times. "What exactly are you talking about?"

"Did you not hear them muttering before they left?" she asked with a sign. He shook his head no, having been watching Hermione continue to blush and try to appear non-flustered by his heated kiss. That was too entertaining to pass up! "They're going to ask us about our living situation next time, and they're going to expect an answer! We need to come up with a solution to that, because whether it's the same two women next time or two completely different people, I'm betting that they'll ask the same questions. Obviously, we weren't prepared for things too well this time."

"Obviously," he replied, rolling his eyes. "You're overthinking things," he continued, and her eyes widened at that. "I know we tried to discuss this earlier, but it only made things uncomfortable. At least pretending in front of those two women didn't take much thought. It all went off of impulses to cover up our story, and if we would just play along with one another next time the story should be perfect." He arched an eyebrow at her, and she knew he was focusing on her hesitation when he kissed her.

"It could work," she muttered, still unbalanced from what happened. He nodded, rubbing his lower lip. They grew silent for many minutes.

"So…" she continued, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly as she spoke next, "Did you feel like someone else was watching us the entire time?"

"Especially when I kissed you?"

"Yeah."

"And it got darker in here for a moment."

"Exactly."

"Yeah," Draco said, leaning against the wall. "I felt that."

She met his eyes. "They were watching us today, weren't they? The shadows?"

He nodded grimly. "Yes… I believe so."

* * *

**A/n: **I know it's short, but I liked this one. I didn't go into extensive detail with the Social Service intrusion this time because I might- though I'm not completely decided yet- go in-depth with it next chapter when they go have a look-see at Draco's home. We might even see the children sometime soon. I hope you guys at least enjoyed it, so please leave some feedback!

You're also free to check out my new story "Sirens Call" if you'd like! I'm getting some new stories up as I know how "His and Her Scars" is going to end, it's only a matter of typing and posting now!

Does anyone read slash? I'm writing a competition story and I'm considering doing a slash couple, but I'm not sure yet. Thoughts?


	11. Welcome to this Place

**A/n: **And here's chapter 11. Thanks to my beta **Hunter's Heir**!

* * *

**11: Welcome to this Place**

Speaking with Malfoy later was pretty unnerving. His spontaneous kiss earlier had yet to turn into a conversation between them, but she knew it was bound to happen. What he did was quite uncalled for and she didn't know if she could just ignore the topic. Earlier when they spoke of their suspicion of the shadows, she couldn't stop taking sharp glances at his lips.

Why did he have to make things even more complicated? A peck on the cheek would've been dandy in her mind, and she probably wouldn't have butterflies in her stomach now. Why she was feeling any sort of emotion towards the prat was beyond her, because it shouldn't even exist. If anything, he'd done this just to mess with her head.

But that didn't really matter currently.

She had to go over to Malfoy Manor _of all things_, to sit in a room with two icy individuals who would like nothing more than to watch her burn to death, and a stoic man who did nothing more than confuse her. Certainly Draco could do this meeting on his own, right? She didn't want to go back there.

It wasn't just due to the people there either. Hermione still vividly remembered being tortured on the floor of the Manor, and had yet to forget that those three Malfoy's stood by as she suffered. Returning to a place that left horrid memories burned into her memory didn't sound particularly pleasing, and up until that morning she hadn't put a lot of consideration into the Manor. Planning to return to Malfoy's ancestral home was one thing, but actually going was another. She wasn't quite sure she could physically do it without freaking out. And that would give Social Services a reason to fret.

But Malfoy was insistent. He wanted her there considering that he stayed in her apartment while they were inspected by the two women from Social Services, and he expected her to do the same when his home was contaminated by the likes of them (Hermione thought that was pretty dramatic, considering that these people didn't actually break in or anything).

She couldn't get out of it. He would never let her hear the end of it if she didn't go. With a heavy heart she prepared to go to Malfoy Manor, dreading the entire experience.

Her least favorite people in her least favorite place. Fantastic.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. Hannah wouldn't be there, so things could be worse.

* * *

"Are we ever going to talk about the… incident?" Hermione asked, fidgeting nervously as Narcissa glared in her direction. She had no idea what conversation happened between mother and son before her arrival, but the woman looked incredibly angry. The brunette suspected that things didn't go so well.

"Are you ever going to drop it?" he retaliated, glancing her way. They were leaning against the wall as the two Social Service inspectors spoke with Mrs. Malfoy, her husband nowhere to be found. Hermione had yet to learn why he wasn't present, and it didn't seem Draco would be sharing. He was far too focused on watching his mother snap replies to the inspectors- a man and a different woman this time. Well, at least they weren't the same people from before.

"Your mother might just light them on fire if they don't stop asking questions," she hissed, leaning a bit closer to him. They stood on one side of a rather large sitting room, observing the inspectors questioning his mother from a safe distance. The trio sat across from them, with Narcissa facing the faux couple.

"I wouldn't be surprised. She's very unhappy about this."

"Did you expect her to be happy about this?"

"No, but I was hoping she would try and see the benefits of this through all the negative things."

"How many negative sides are there to this situation exactly, Malfoy?"

"Oh, a great many in her eyes. She sees this as a major insult."

"Insult? Did you neglect to tell her this is a hoax?" Hermione whispered beneath her breath.

"I told her what was necessary," he defended, putting some space between them. "I think they're about to explore the Manor."

"How long will that take?"

"The destroyed sections are warded off, so we're only going to be going through two of the wings, the garden, the entranceway and the ballroom."

Hermione looked up at him, eyebrows rising higher and higher on her face. "So the entire day?"

"Possibly," he said, glancing at the clock. It was still ten in the morning, but the Manor was not a small structure. "It depends how in depth their searching is. Some of the rooms are completely empty."

She shook her head. "I don't see why you need a place this large if you have empty rooms. It's a waste of space."

"Maybe in your eyes," he remarked, eyeing her. "I call it spacious living."

"If you say so, Malfoy."

* * *

As predicted, it took an obnoxious amount of time to scour through the Manor, searching room after endless room. She did get a glance into Malfoy's personal room, and it was not what she expected. There was a minimal amount of green, followed by an obnoxious bit of black, white, and cream. No silver. She almost passed out.

Narcissa did not come with them, and Draco never offered an explanation to his father's whereabouts. He gave a short answer to the investigators, but she didn't hear it at the time. And now that they were forced to trek around the large home, they couldn't discuss the kiss, shadows, children or items found in Hannah's room. It was really beginning to tick her off.

They did however pass the space where she was once tortured. She froze at that spot, flashes of memories attacking her.

_Don't hurt me-_

_Just end me… kill me._

_Sinister, maniacal laughter followed by searing pain. Screams that she didn't even recognize as her own. Faces of blonde-haired people who stood by and did nothing while she withered._

It was a difficult place for Hermione to pass, and she didn't actually realize she was having flashbacks until a voice drew her from the past. Draco had bent down close to her face, searching her eyes. He had one hand on her back, the other on her cheek. Surprisingly, he looked concerned.

They passed it off as a sudden pain, but she suspected that he later told them it was war memories. Who didn't have those? But he made sure to do it out of her earshot once the tour was over. While they were still walking, he kept her latched to his side, his hand resting comfortably on her waist. It did make her feel a bit better.

Once they left, he took her up to his bedroom, presumably because his mother was likelier to butt out up there. They sat on his couch- he had a blasted _siting area_ in his bedroom- saying nothing. It was as though they didn't know what to speak of now.

He spoke first, sitting forwards in the chair adjacent from her seat, resting his elbows on his knees. "We don't have to stay here you know. If you want to leave, we can continue this in your apartment- or even at your bookstore."

Hermione shook her head, glancing away from him. "No, it's fine. I need to get over it."

"It's not an easy thing to get over," Draco whispered.

"Can we drop it?" she snapped, looking back to meet his eyes. Sighing he sat back again, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Very well, there are other things we can discuss."

"Indeed," she agreed, sitting forward. "We have yet to talk about what you plucked from Hannah's room."

"_That's_ what you'd rather talk about?"

She shrugged. "It's the reason I'm here now, isn't it? We got into this mess because of those children, and the items you collected are something we haven't discussed yet. Besides, we have neglected to go see those children lately," she continued, giving him a pointed look.

"We had people to deal with," he grumbled, standing. Marching over to a nearby cabinet, he opened it and pulled out a few items. She didn't really see what they were until he'd set them down.

"I distract Hannah and you collect books? Maybe things should've been the other way around."

"I tried to tell you that. And for the record, it's just one book. Hell, it might be a journal."

"You mean you haven't looked any of this over since you went snooping?"

Draco shrugged this time. "I figured if I did you would throw a fit because I did it without you. It was safer to just wait."

She huffed, but didn't put up an argument. Instead, she flipped through the small book, eyebrows drawing together. "Who's Annie?"

"I saw something on her in the office," he explained, sitting down once more. "Annie whatever is the person that founded the orphanage- the name of it is Annie's Orphanage, though I doubt either of us actually ever bothered to figure that out. There were some pictures of her, and the orphanage, from six years ago."

"Sounds old. Did she die or something, and that's why Hannah's in charge now?"

"Or she's sick, and taking care of things from a different location. She just doesn't realize that Abbott is really mucking things up."

Hermione nodded, considering the idea. It sounded fairly unlikely, but wouldn't be ruled out just yet. "That still doesn't explain how Hannah got to be in charge. Five years ago we were fighting in a war. Six years ago we were all still sixth years. I doubt she would've been an understudy, and even if she was she could only be one during the summer. That hardly sounds like a qualified person to take over an entire orphanage, and fresh out of a war too? Hannah is trouble waiting to happen under such circumstances, and it's reflected in her work, or lack thereof."

"A family member perhaps?"

"Maybe, but I still don't think anyone would trust Hannah."

"The girl wasn't this extreme in school. Maybe she put on a show for Annie whenever she was around so that she could take over."

"And what good does this do her? Does she enjoy making children's lives miserable?"

"I don't know Granger," he admitted, rubbing his chin. "There was a bit about Annie having cancer and was going off to treatment at some point, though there was no date on the article I found that tidbit on. Maybe she died from her disease."

Hermione looked uncomfortable. "Does that leave Hannah as the all-powerful care-taker then?"

"I don't know we don't have enough information to be certain about that. Social Services said we would get a reply in a week's time about whether or not we are _suitable _parents. That gives us that much time to learn more about Hannah, see those children you're missing, and really set up everything we're about to do. We haven't even decided living conditions yet."

"I won't live here," she snapped, cutting the conversation short. "I can't."

"I'll keep you away from that spot Granger," he said, giving her a soft smile. "There's more room here-"

"And your icy parents who don't even want to be part of this ordeal! They hated seeing me here today Malfoy- or at least your mother did. Merlin knows where your father was. You think they're going to be gentle with children?"

"They were never truly cruel to me," he defended, narrowing his eyes. "Those children wouldn't be put in harm's way."

Hermione took a breath, trying to calm herself. "Okay, that was a little out of line. But we can't just stay here based on size. This place is more of a palace than a home."

"It's got livability features."

"It's got vaulted ceilings and a million rooms," she snapped, rolling her eyes. "My apartment is cozy and comforting and very homey. This place is… cold."

"If we lived at your apartment with _one_ bloody room it would probably be considered mistreatment or something equally ridiculous and the Ministry officials would have a fit. Besides, we'd have to share a bed."

"Fine, if you don't like my suggestion, then what's yours?"

"We stay here," he said, leaning forward, "We have our own separate rooms, as do the children, in this hall. We don't have to share a bed. We don't have to kiss unless necessary. There's plenty of room. You can put some hideous flowers around the place if it makes you happy, might even light up the place. It's the most sensible thing to do without buying a place, which is ridiculous for a hoax. When everything is said and done and we part ways with one child each then you can go back to living in that crummy apartment. I'll even pay your rent while you're here."

She shook her head, biting her lip. He not only insulted her apartment, but also made it seem like he was the only one capable of handing the children. But what he might have in material possessions did not make up for his lack of people skills. She'd bet her crummy apartment that she knew how to handle children better than he did.

Maybe she would let him have it his way just for now, having them all bundled up in his home. But she would best him, and he would hate it. She would be a better parent, detective and defender while he relished in his material possessions. They could live there so long as he didn't try to control the whole situation. She would have a say in things too.

And once everything was done, they could part ways hopefully as friends. By that point, she hoped that this annoying butterfly feeling in her chest would be done and over with. She really didn't need to get all tingly and girly for the likes of him!

Stupid Malfoy, ruining everything.

* * *

**A/n:** Wrote this pretty late, it might show. Read and review please. Also remember that you can check out my facebook page through the link on my profile.


	12. I'll Show you Everything

**A/n**: And here's a new chapter! Thanks to **Hunter's Heir** for betaing!

* * *

**12. I'll Show You Everything**

He came by Hermione's shop the following day to visit her on her lunch break, walking in as though he owned the place.

It drew a lot of attention, more so than it normally would. Word spread fast the last few days and now pretty much everyone in Britain knew she was adopting with Malfoy. It was causing quite the scene, and she'd had more people in her shop that normal, most asking about what happened to make them want to do something like this. All those people were escorted quickly away. But having the man in question in that very shop made even more questions arise, and Hermione dearly wished that he'd owled first. He was causing a scene.

"Might I talk to you?" he asked, stopping directly in front of the counter. Those already in the bookshop looked over, trying to hear what they were saying. She opted to nod, signaling with her eyes that they were being watched. She took him around the counter and into the back, leaving a rather confused employee to handle the crowd. Oh well, Hermione knew she would do just fine.

"You can't just barge in here like that!" she hissed once they were fairly far away from the entrance into the back of the shop. "People are going to talk about this!"

"Then let them talk," he replied, shrugging. "It's not as though they wouldn't talk anyway."

"Well, this isn't helping!"

"So I see," he replied, arching an eyebrow. "Would you care to know why I stopped by now?"

"Well, I suppose you might as well share since you barged in here!"

He shrugged again. "Very well. Where do you prefer, Shropshire, Norfolk or Hampshire?"

Hermione blinked, completely thrown. "What?"

"Do I need to repeat myself Granger? Which place do you prefer?"

"I've never been to any of those except Norfolk. I don't do a lot of traveling Malfoy."

"So I see. And did you like Norfolk?"

"It's… alright? I wasn't there long."

He sighed, rubbing his temples. A moment later he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of photographs, setting them in three columns on the conveniently located table. Hermione watched silently until he finished.

"Which of these looks the best to you?"

She scanned the pictures only briefly before looking back at him again, eyes wide. "Malfoy… these are pictures of homes."

"Why yes, Hermione, they are, now answer the question."

"What's this all about?"

He sighed, touching the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes. "Just pick one, okay? And really look at the photographs, don't just scan them. I refuse to answer your question until you've picked one."

Uncertain about what was going on, she turned back to the pictures, eyeing each of them in turn. This was rather sudden, and weird, but he seemed rather determined to have her pick one. Eyeing the three houses and pictures of the inside she got the feeling that she knew what was going on, but refused to say anything until she'd picked one up.

"This one I suppose," she said, picking up a photograph of a lovely home- it's actual size impossible to guess from the pictures, which she suspected was done purposefully- and handed it to him. He smirked lightly.

"I kind of thought you might enjoy that one. It's really in a lovely place."

"Malfoy, what is this all about?" she asked, avoiding using his real name. He sighed, running long fingers through his hair several times before he attempted to respond.

"They are homes, some of which I own and others that I've been considering buying, from around the country. These three are some that I thought you might enjoy The one you picked I actually already own, it's up in Hampshire. I'm not much for the countryside, but the home is lovely and private in a muggle-infested area. I thought you might pick it based on the photo of the library."

His words took several moments to process in her head, her mind protesting what she was hearing at first. "Why are you showing me these?"

"Don't play dumb Granger, it's not flattering on you. You know exactly why I'm showing them to you."

"They're homes that we can pick from to live in… aren't they? You're showing me places we could possibly live in."

He nodded stiffly. "Yes. After our talk yesterday… I know what I said got through to you and you were starting to think that living in the Manor might be a good idea, but I decided against it once you'd gone home. You nearly had a panic attack while we were simply wandering around; I can't imagine your reaction to actually living there. If those children are skittish and uncertain about life now they'll just be frightened more so by their adoptive mother panicking and screaming."

She worried her lip. "I suppose you have a point."

"These are places you've never been to," he continued, looking away again, "Places my parents don't even use. It would be kind of like being a real family, and you wouldn't have nightmares about it all the time. And even better, my parents wouldn't constantly be around."

"You seem quite excited about that," she noted, arching an eyebrow. Again, he nodded.

"You don't even know." He waved his hand and the remaining photos flew into his grip. "It's a large home, but perfect for four people- especially if we won't be sleeping in the same bedroom. There's a small town nearby, and it has plenty of property that's guarded and warded for safety measures. I haven't been back since I was quite young, but nonetheless I'll have someone out there immediately to clean it. When would you like to go have a look?"

Hermione blinked several times, still a bit confused about what she was hearing. "You're serious? You want us to move in there together, away from London?"

"It's not like it'll make it hard to see the people we already do, that's what apparition and the floo network is for. The only difference would be where we are stationed."

"But we just had our homes approved," she retaliated, cocking an eyebrow. "Won't this mess everything up?"

He paused, looking at her strangely. "What do you mean, we were approved? I haven't gotten a letter about that as of yet."

She shyly looked away, brushing her hair from her face. "It showed up before I left my apartment this morning, so you might've already been out and about when it arrived. I was eager so I opened it right away. We were approved to adopt. Won't moving ruin that for us?"

"I can check it later on today," he replied with a shrug, "but I don't see why it would. We should be able to live where we please. What about the adoption papers?"

"The letter said we were approved so we can go over to the orphanage whenever and adopt them, but of course, it takes a few days. I think… I think if we're planning to move to Hampshire then we should figure that out first- about how long it will take- and then go back. Once Abigail and Liam figure out they're being adopted they won't want to consider the idea of being left there for longer than needed. They will want to come home with us right away."

"Yes, and they will also want us to act like a real couple, a couple we are not."

Hermione cringed. "I suppose that's true."

"Do you think it'll be detrimental to them if we don't stay together," he mused, rubbing his chin. "I mean we never really put that into perspective."

"Are you beginning to wonder if we're in over our heads Draco?"

He chuckled. "No, we surpassed that mark ages ago. Now we're absolutely batty. So what do you say? Would you like to check out the place?"

She bit her lip. "My apartment-"

"Are you seriously in love with that place? Hell Hermione, I'll help you find a bigger and better apartment when we finish with this task, okay? Don't get too overly hung up on that place."

She rolled her eyes, knowing that when this was all said and done that prat was going to live wherever he pleased, without worrying about the cost. Merlin knew she was appalled that he could just pull out a handful of photographs of places he already owns and just offer them up for her to choose from. Did he have international homes as well? That might be something to check into for future reference.

"I suppose I can consider finding another place," she said offhandedly, looking away. She wouldn't commit to anything yet. "But I suppose we can go looking at the place around… five? I'll have Brittany behind the counter close for me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, it'll be fine. Do you want to pick me up here or…"

"I'll pick you up," he agreed, "There's no reason for you to go back to the Manor Granger, okay? I'll see you then."

"See you," she breathed, watching him leave the place with a sweep of his cloak. One photograph remained in her hand, and she studied it as she returned to the front. Well, the home really looked lovely…

* * *

Lovely was an understatement for the building Draco brought her to. Vaulted ceilings, window seats, hardwood floors, more rooms than she could count, Hermione got lost in the place. There were plenty of rooms decorated simply, and from the décor she realized just how long it had really been since the Malfoy's visited the place. Draco's old room was decorated for a seven-year-old boy. They planned to refurnish the bedroom his parents once shared-completely- and sleep in there. They just had to go and pick some furniture.

He said he could do that, but she was concerned about his behavior the entire time they were there. He seemed to be counting as they traveled through the place, adding up the cost of things as they went. Was he concerned about something?

"I can pay for some things you know," she said later when they sat down on a sofa in the living room almost an hour later. "I mean, this is going to be highly expensive-"

"I've got it covered Granger," he said, seeming agitated that she would even suggest such a thing. "I haven't straightened the family finances up yet, so I'm just adding, okay? Don't mind the quill and parchment."

"Well, Draco, I'm concerned that I'm pushing your wallet. I do make quite a bit of money on my own you know, and it won't be hard for me to pay for a couple things. I mean honestly-"

"I said I've got it!" he snapped, before groaning. He leaned back in his seat, rubbing his temples. "Really, it's fine."

Hermione took a moment to study the blonde beside her then. He was quite tense, and the pre-inked quill and parchment were gone now, leaving his hands free. He kept rubbing his temples, the bridge of his nose, and his arms as though he was unsure about things. She really hoped nothing drastic was going on in that head of his.

"I don't believe that for a minute Malfoy. I don't know when you decided to take it upon yourself to handle and pay for _everything_, but it's not all on your shoulders. This is something we both agreed to get into. So please don't fuss and worry yourself to death. No matter what you say, I'm going to pay for some of this."

"I'm not worrying myself to death!" he snapped again, offended. "I'm just concerned. We have to get everything properly paid for get those kids out so that Hannah can be arrested-"

"Which is still going to be a tad hard to do since we haven't really put any thought into what she's doing lately," Hermione muttered, rubbing her head. "I've almost completely forgotten to be concerned about her. I mean, I've gotten so wrapped up in helping those children-"

"That you're beginning to forget why we originally decided to do this?" Draco asked, finishing her sentence for her. She nodded immediately, agreeing. "Yeah, me too. Everything is beginning to mesh together, from the reason why you and I are even bothering to look at homes to the shadows. Come to think of it, they haven't been a bother recently."

"We always sound a little crazy when we talk about this," the brunette muttered, brushing the hair out of her face. "But right now, I've got a couple other concerns that don't particularly deal with the unexplainable."

"Oh, and what are those?"

She worried her bottom lip. "Well, for one, you mentioned that Abigail and Liam might be affected if their foster parents don't sleep in the same room…"

"Yes?"

"And no, I'm not saying we should sleep together-"

"Go on, Granger. Get to the point."

"At the Manor I saw several rooms that have doors leading into others, like hotels sometimes do. Are there any rooms like that here? You never actually showed me."

"Yes," he replied, nodding his head, "There are. And I know exactly what you're hinting at, Hermione. The master bedroom has a door like that which leads into a much smaller bedroom. I presume that in the past it was used by my ancestors to house young children until they got old enough to not need their parents every six hours. Essentially, it was a baby room but now it has a bed and everything. You're not seriously considering sleeping in that place, are you?"

"Why not? If everything works out and we can actually live here, then it would give the allusion that we're a normal couple and we sleep in the same bed."

"Well, yes, I suppose, until one of those children runs in during the night and realizes one of us is missing. What exactly do we propose we do then?"

She huffed, slumping in her seat. "I don't know."

There was a moment of silence between them, during which time Draco thought things over in his head. "So you're saying you like this place, and would move in if need be?"

Hermione blinked, having not realized what she openly admitted to him only a few moments before. "Oh, why yes, I think so. It's lovely, and spacious, and would be perfect to raise a family in."

"And you bloody adore the library?"

"Yes, it has its perks too."

They spoke only a few minutes longer, getting whatever else they needed to in order. Neither of them dared mentioning how real things felt. It was odd to think that they could talk about these topics so easily, taking serious things that they thought they were just pretending to do for appearances sake and talking about it as though they were really starting a family, when in reality they were doing it for the children's sake, right?

Well, originally they thought so. Now, doubt clouded their minds. Why exactly were they both becoming so attached to the thought of moving in together? The answer was too frightening to think about.

* * *

**A/N:** Here's chapter 12! It's not my best, but I'm a bit stuck. I'm doing my first ever week of college this week so I'm all sorts of stressed. Hopefully this is okay, even though I've done better. Next chapter though I'm pretty sure we'll see a bit of romance. And- finally- they're going to have an in depth conversation about the kiss! Please leave a comment if you can, it might spark some major inspiration ;)


	13. Well I Don't Know

**A/n**: Thanks to my new beta **Hunter's Heir**!

* * *

_With arms wide open/ with arms wide open_

**13. Well I Don't Know**

"What do you mean you're moving in together!?" Ron spat, staring at her with wide eyes. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I thought you said this was nothing serious!"

"It isn't," Hermione argued, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. The last time she spoke with her best friends was over two weeks ago, about the same time she went wandering around with Malfoy to look at homes. "We're not together, as I've clearly stated before. We're simply doing something that seems right for the children."

"Are you sure this is the best way to go about things?" Harry asked worriedly, looking his friend over with concern. "I mean, what you're doing is a great cause and all Hermione, but moving in with our old nemesis seems rash and well… silly. How can you possibly trust him?"

"Are you questioning my judgment, Harry?"

"I'm just wondering if you've thought this through. Are you putting up a front for the children's sake or for your sake?"

Hermione stiffened, wondering when Harry got to be so intuitive. She wasn't trying to put up a front, but they were trying to make the children feel at home. Their plan was not traditional, usual, or anything of the sort. Really they were taking some big risks by doing this, submitting themselves to the questions the public would bring up, the doubts, and putting those two kids at center stage. How she wished things were a bit more discrete, but alas, that wouldn't happen. When two huge names decide to collaborate and adopt, it makes it hard for anything to happen on the down-low. She just wanted her friends to know of her decision firsthand.

"I'm not putting up a front," she snapped, glaring his way. "I'm trying to get them out of that orphanage without a million reporters flooding the place. It wouldn't be fair to the other children. They're going to be upset that someone didn't adopt them as it is."

"What did you say the name of the orphanage was again?" Ron asked, trying to change topics. He truly did not want to discuss this.

"Annie's Orphanage," she replied, barely paying the redhead any mind. "Harry, this was my choice you know. Malfoy didn't force a single thing-"

"I heard he kissed you," Ron piped up, cutting into the conversation again to put in his two cents. "It's a rumor that's been traveling everywhere lately."

Her cheeks flushed, and she glanced away from her friends. "Maybe he did, but does that really matter? My relationship status' is no one else's business."

Ron jumped up, getting in her face. "So he did kiss you! Tell me-"

"Ron," Harry muttered, pulling his friend back, "Cut it out."

"But-"

"It doesn't matter if he kissed me or not," she snapped, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach as she thought about that event again, "What matters is that we agreed to do this together. My personal affairs can be dealt with as needed, Ronald. Really, you don't need to make a big deal out of things."

"You kissed Malfoy!"

_Did I just quote Draco? Dear Merlin, help me. He's already beginning to rub off on me, and that can only spell trouble. _

"And that's my business, end of discussion." She turned completely away from the ginger, focusing completely on Harry now. "I don't want the children thinking we're playing pretend. We might not be together, but he did agree to go at this together. And I want them to feel like we're a family of sorts. They aren't being adopted just to be put into another make-shift house."

"I suppose not."

"Then let me do what I'm doing! I know the two of you are concerned, but I can handle myself. He hasn't done anything rude, cruel or disrespectful. You guys might not like him, but we've grown to tolerate one another for a greater cause."

"I wonder why he's doing this," Ron muttered, rubbing his chin. "Hermione, what if he's just using you to look better in the public eye? I know his business has been sinking lately."

"Would you stop with these silly ideas already?" she snapped, placing her hands on her hips. "I know what I'm doing!"

"But-"

"Ron, don't you have a girlfriend or something?" He looked away, uncomfortable with the topic. She wondered why. "Exactly, so will you focus on her a bit? She'd lose her mind if she knew you were so invested in me."

"She just worries," he muttered, shuffling his feet. She rolled brown eyes skyward.

"You've been together for over two years. She can calm down already." He didn't reply.

"So.. you're really going to do this then?" Harry asked, studying her. "You're really going to move in with Malfoy?"

"Yes."

"To the Manor?" Ron piped up, looking horrified.

"No, we're moving to one of his properties in Hampshire."

Her friends froze, staring at her with wide eyes. "You… he bought a property for the two of you?" the raven-haired man asked, looking dazed.

"No, he already owned it. We both agreed that it would be roomier than an apartment, more acceptable than the Manor, and we can still keep our jobs."

"And you're… moving soon?" Ron asked, just as horrified as he was earlier.

"Yes. I start today in fact. That's where I'm going once we've finished our conversation."

The two men stared at her in awe. Moving in with someone was pretty serious business, especially someone you don't really consider a friend. And Hermione seemed to think this was just an everyday thing. Or maybe, she was surpassing her inner thoughts.

If they only understood everything she was still hiding from them, they might see things in a new light.

* * *

"You've got a ton of things Malfoy," she grunted, watching the blonde move things around with his wand. He was unpacking in their fake bedroom, moving items all over the place.

"This is just some of it," he replied with a shrug. "I'll move over the rest and some of my business papers tomorrow."

"I don't know why anyone would ever need so many things," she grumbled, beginning to unpack as well. Glancing towards the door that led to the spare bed, she wandered over and opened the cramped room. Well, if one of them was going to sleep in there, it should probably be her. It was his home after all. She began to unpack again.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked, coming to the door. This place was nothing like the luxurious bedroom she'd just stepped out of, and she truly believed it was used for either a baby's room or a slave chamber, though she hoped it wasn't the latter.

Hermione looked his way. "Well, I'm unpacking."

"In this cramped space? Granger, there's plenty of space in the main bedroom. Don't huddle in here and cram all your things in."

"This place isn't terribly small," she defended, crossing her arms. "it's roughly as big as the bedroom I used to have in my apartment."

"Like I said, it's cramped. Come unpack out here."

"Draco, I won't have my things in a separate room from where I sleep. That's silly."

He paused, studying her. "You do know you're not a slave here, right? I'm not requiring you to sleep in here."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Whatever gave you that idea?

"Well, you're talking about this place as though you _have_ to sleep in here. I didn't suggest this space Hermione, you asked about it. I have no intention of making you keep your things in here."

"I can't sleep in there," she defended, crossing her arms over her chest. "We'd have to share the same bed!"

He shrugged. "Well, give it a try first. This space is frightfully small. You'll be much more comfortable in there I'm sure."

"Sleeping next to you? I have my doubts."

Draco sighed, leaning against the doorframe as he rubbed his temples. "I know you don't exactly trust me Granger, but have a bit of faith would you? I'm not going to be a jerk or hurt you, and we might as well keep up impressions. Testing this before we go and adopt the children would be a good thing, in case we break into an argument or something."

"You think we'll argue?"

"We're already arguing."

She glanced past him towards the lovely room, sizing it up. "I'll hex you if you try anything."

"I was already anticipating that."

She smirked at that, glad that he was thinking on his toes. "Well then, I suppose we can try this out."

"Oh gee, I'm so glad you finally agreed."

"No funny business?"

"Granger," he said, eyebrows knitting together as he flicked his wand and picked up her things, "Shut up."

* * *

"There's plenty of adequate space between us," he grumbled, one arm thrown over his face. "Go to sleep."

"The wind blows through this place like a sheet," Hermione muttered, hugging the blankets to her form. Obviously the Malfoy's hadn't used this place in quite some time considering how the wind whistled through the upper floors, just loud enough for her to hear down below. "It's quite creepy."

"If you fall asleep you won't hear it."

"Are you sleeping on top of the designated blankets Malfoy? I think you're under one of mine."

"Circe I never knew you were this much of a prude," he spat, lifting his arm up. He rolled on his side and glared at her. "Granger, we've been in bed all of five minutes. I can't do this all night."

"All the more reason that I shouldn't sleep in here."

"Merlin woman, just calm down. What is your problem with sleeping next to me?"

"That it's you," she muttered, rolling away from him.

"Don't trust me I take it?" he asked, though he already knew the answer. She didn't respond and he rolled on his back, sighing. It grew silent for several minutes.

"Cast a spell and it'll block out the sound," he grunted, rolling away from her as well. "It's really not all that cold in here you know, Granger."

The bed shifted as he got up, and she peeked over her shoulder to see him disappearing through a door- the bathroom. Sighing she sat up, grabbing her wand. Why was she so unnerved by just having him there?

Simple, she didn't want to be that close to him. Sleeping in the same bed was a loving, intimate action in her mind. And she didn't feel either of those things towards the blonde. Undesired butterflies maybe, but nothing intimate.

The fireplace went out a moment later and she straightened, engulfed in the dark. She didn't really like that. Gripping her wand she cast the spell to block out the sound of the wind, listening to see if anything was in there with her. All she heard was the sound of water running in the bathroom. Careful to mind her hurt wrist she stood up and lit her wand, looking around. She didn't see anything.

Flicking her wand towards the fireplace it ignited again, once more bathing the room with a bit of light. She looked around, gripping the bedpost, feeling like she was being watched.

She hated that feeling.

Half a second later, she was on the ground screaming, pain ripping up her arm. The same wrist that was slit beforehand burned again, the pain rocketing higher up towards her elbow. She clutched that arm to her body, dropping her wand with slick fingers, realizing a moment later that they were slick with blood.

"Hermione!?" The room lit up, and she gasped as Draco sat down beside her, gently grabbing her arm. "What happened?"

She shook her head, trying to look around for the cause of her pain. She knew what it was before she caught sight of it, watching the dark silhouettes of two people disappearing from sight into the figureless shadows. He saw them too, but didn't focus as long as she did.

"What happened to your arm?" She whimpered when he touched the red skin, swatting his hand away. "Just let me look."

He placed her up on the bed again despite her protests, crouching down in front of her between her legs. The position was a bit awkward, but he didn't seem to be paying any attention and she could barely focus on it. He pulled her arm away from her body despite her whimpers, flipping it over to reveal the sensitive skin, not slit open with the blood spilling out. It wasn't an incredibly deep cut from what he could see, and the tendons still seemed to function fine.

"I'm not a Healer."

"I know."

"We're going to St. Mungo's."

She pulled back. "They're going to wonder what happened."

"We'll make up a story."

"Draco-"

"Come on," he said, pulling her to her feet before she could protest again. He trudged her over to the floo system, flicking his hand to bring her wand to him. "Hold on."

"Draco-"

But he wasn't listening, concerned with what was going on. He'd seen those figures disappearing into the shadows as well, a female silhouette looking so familiar to him that he felt there was a knot now in his throat, cutting off his air. He felt like he couldn't breathe as he grabbed some powder, remembering the living version of that shadow.

It scared him that he could even put a person to a shadow, registering them as the same. Of course, it was probably just his imagination playing tricks on him as he freaked out over the bleeding girl at his side, but he couldn't disregard what he had seen.

He was reminded of a necklace Abigail wore; one that he thought seemed familiar as well. And in all honesty, he wasn't feeling too good about all those connections he was making.

* * *

Hermione rubbed her arm, the skin mended and healed now. They'd passed her cut off as investigating their home in Hampshire, and she'd fallen and cut it open. It was really quite a lame lie, but what else could they say? It was either that or blame it on Draco, and that wouldn't help them either.

She sat on the hospital bed, waiting for the Healer to release her. All the paperwork was filled out and she should be able to leave any minute now. Although she did wonder where Maldoy had gone to, who disappeared promptly after her arm was healed. Bloody hell he was going to need to learn a thing or two about healing spells if they would have kids around.

He said he brought her there because he wasn't too good with healing tendons, but he said earlier that he didn't think it was deep enough to cut the tendons while hauling her through St. Mungo's. She got the feeling that his reaction was more about panic than anything. He'd freaked out, and in return he'd brought her there. Now hopefully he would show up so they could leave before the Healer returned. He was the only one who could floo back into the place in Hampshire since he had yet to adjust the wards.

When he did appear a few minutes later, he threw a file on her bed beside her and glared in her direction. She arched an eyebrow, wondering what was bothering him now.

"Something bothering you?"

"No," he said, leaning against the wall, "Not really. I just discovered something is all."

"What's that? It's obviously got you angry."

He pursed his lips, studying her. "You never came in to get your wrist looked at."

Startled by his sudden topic change, it took her a moment to respond. "Well, I meant to, but-"

"Granger," he snapped, anger eating at his voice, "It _bleeds_ all the time! You never thought it might be important to get looked at?"

"I wasn't concerned!" she snapped, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Look, we came in here to deal with my arm, not my wrist-"

"But it could be a problem," he retorted, rolling his eyes. "What if it doesn't stop bleeding anytime soon? Something… something dangerous did that."

"Dangerous?" she mocked, crossing her arms. "This whole situation is dangerous! We're toying with things we don't even understand to help two kids! There's nothing safe about this and shadows that can invade our room at any time should be more of a concern than my bloody wrist!"

He stepped forward, snatching up her arm. Her eyes widened briefly as he placed his hand over the bandage on her wrist, which was covered unlike the rest of her newly-healed arm, and pressed gently. A spot of red blood tainted the white cover.

"It's not healthy," he snapped. "Something bad is going to come from this."

"I don't need you worrying about me," she retorted, getting up. A Healer stood at the door with her dismissal note and she shoved past the blonde to snatch it up, storming out of the room. The man at the door turned to see if Draco could explain anything, but he only followed the brunette, leaving a very confused Healer in their wake.

He caught up quickly with her. "I do need to worry," he corrected, falling into step beside her. "If I don't those kids will."

"I can hide it Malfoy. I can hide it just fine. I did it for weeks, and I can continue to do so. They won't notice a thing."

"You'd like to think so, wouldn't you? Don't you think there's something dark and sinister about the entire thing? This isn't normal."

"Nothing about this situation is normal," she grumbled, shoving her hands into the pockets of her bathrobe. They'd been in their pajamas since he rashly took them away from the Manor in Hampshire to floo to St. Mungo's, and now she was finally noticing what she was wearing. Thank Merlin she didn't work there.

He didn't respond to her, and they walked the rest of the way in silence. When they reached the floo she climbed in beside him, holding onto his hand so he could take them back to Hampshire. Hopefully he would take down the darn wards tomorrow so she could come and go as she pleased.

They were set to go and adopt in three days. And things weren't looking too good just then. If anything, Hermione now wondered if they would be helping the kids or putting them in danger by taking them away from the orphanage.

Scratch that. Nothing could be worse than living there.

* * *

**A/n:** I'm slightly stuck on this story right now if you can't tell. Hopefully my muse will speak to me. I've done my first week of college now, so at least that's out of the way. Now if I can only survive the rest of the year… thanks to everyone who wished me well in college! It's very kind of you :)

Leave a comment if you could. Inspiration sometimes helps.


	14. If I'm Ready

**A/n**: Thanks to my beta **Hunter's Heir**!

* * *

**14. If I'm Ready**

"Is it a pretty house? Abigail asked, clinging to Hermione's arm. She grinned down at the young girl, gently shaking her off. The child simply couldn't cling to her hurt wrist; Hermione couldn't handle it. Liam stood about a foot away, smiling beneath his fringe. He was elated to be getting out of that place.

Three days went by surprisingly fast, and the brunette spent more of her time away from work buying adequate furniture for the children and creating a welcoming atmosphere than she did actually thinking about the entire situation. Draco handled the finances and even owled Hannah the day before reminding her that they were coming to pick up the children, the paperwork in order. An inspection would happen in about three weeks, the time unbeknownst to the fake couple. It would be a random viewing, one for the Ministry to simply come in and check up on them. In a month Hermione and Draco planned to turn in Hannah for her lack of care, but couldn't chance it immediately while walking on ice around all the inspectors. There were too many issues there.

"It's a perfect house," the woman reassured, ruffling the girl's hair. She grinned up at her new mother, the word still foreign to Hermione who could barely wrap her head around it all. To think that she and Draco were now mummy and daddy was too surreal. When she pictured having children as a child it was with a man she loved, in a marriage that would never end. It wasn't through adoption with someone she once considered the enemy. How the times had changed. "You'll love it."

"And I really get my own room?"

"Of course," Hermione laughed, glancing at Liam. "Your rooms are right next door to each other, across the hall from ours."

To that the boy brightened further, dropping his cool-boy attitude to grin broadly at the woman in front of him. "Really?"

"Yes. We're all quite close together."

"Does it have a window?"

"Of course it has a window, Liam," she replied, finding the question to be odd.

"We don't have windows in a lot of the rooms here," Abigail piped up, looking at the brunette. "I can't believe I get my own window!"

"There are many windows."

"Cool! Do we have a dog?"

Hermione crinkled her nose, her preference towards cats wanting to peek through. "No, we don't. Draco has an owl, and I used to have a cat, but we're not dog people."

"Can we have one?" Liam inquired, getting closer. She rolled her eyes, knowing right then that this wouldn't be the end of this conversation.

"We can ask Draco later- much later. Why don't we get to the house first?"

"Can we go now?" the girl asked, jumping up and down. "Please?!"

"When Draco returns. We can't just leave without him."

"He knows the way, right?" Liam asked hopefully. "He has to be almost done right?

"I am done," the blonde replied, appearing. He closed the door behind him, only to have it thrown open a moment later by Hannah's bristling form.

"Have fun now!" she called out the door as Draco joined the group. "You two be careful! Enjoy your new parents!"

"We will!" Abigail called back, excited that Hannah suddenly seemed so nice. "You will come visit, right?"

The three adults froze, exchanging glances. Poor Abigail didn't realize how awkward her question was for the three, and stood expectantly waiting for a reply. Apparently when Hannah wasn't being terrible, the child actually enjoyed her.

"I think Hannah is going to be too busy with things," Draco said as he slipped an arm around Hermione, creating the perfect false-atmosphere that they had rehearsed, foreshadowing the future with his words. "I don't think that she can visit."

"Right," the woman agreed, staring at the arm around Hermione. "He's right, I don't think I can visit honey. Besides, you'll want to spend all of your time with them."

"Oh," the girl replied, looking slightly disappointed. Liam hoped she would brighten up when they saw their new house. He would never miss this place.

"Let's go," Hermione said, grabbing the little girl's hand. Their bags were already shrunken and hidden in Draco's pocket, and he detached himself from her side to walk alongside the young boy. The four fell into step, bidding Hannah a quick farewell as they departed. The woman did not look upset to see them go.

"We're going to take a quick stop for lunch," Draco said after several minutes of walking, glancing back at Hermione to see her nod her head. They had planned this in advance. "Then we'll head right on over to the house, but not on empty stomachs, okay?"

"Awesome," Liam said, grinning at the other three. He looked quite content to get a decent, delicious meal in his belly.

"I want cookies," Abigail said, adding a bounce to her step. "And we can talk all about the shadows."

* * *

Turns out, Abigail was far too informed for a little girl. She knew that Hermione had been hurt, knew that the shadows bothered them, and knew that they would be watched in that house. It unsettled the former Gryffindor that this little girl knew so much, but it really bothered her that she was so calm about it all right now, and so scared at other times. Hermione wasn't sure how much she wanted to learn about the shadows.

The children were settling in now, dinner having been eaten in the new house. Since Hermione completely refused to have elves, the parents cooked together, with Draco nearly killing his bed-mate with some sizzling water. Needless to say, kitchen lessons were in order for the proud Pureblood.

Abigail and Liam thought the entire cooking fiasco was pretty fantastic. They got cool-points if nothing else. But now the children were settled in, and after Abigail's long conversation about the shadows, the children were supposedly in bed. Both the parents knew better than to think that though. These children were astounded by the size of the house and the amount of space in their bedrooms, and were likely wandering around looking at things and playing with stuff. The fact that they had their own personal bathrooms seemed to floor them, which wasn't too surprising- Hermione wasn't used to this in-room luxury either.

"Do you think there will be more activity from the shadows now that the four of us are concealed under one roof?" Hermione asked, rubbing her arm. It was still sore from the cut in her wrist, healed now although she still felt pains for it. Her arm was completely fine.

"I'm betting on it," he replied, stripping off his shirt. Her eyes widened and she laid back on the bed as to avoid seeing his chest.

"What are you doing!?"

"Um, changing?"

"Put some clothes on Malfoy! Good Merlin, you act like we're in a relationship."

The blonde shook his head as he snatched up a pair of pajama-pants, wandering towards the bathroom to finish. "In everyone else's eyes Hermione, we already are."

She blushed as the door creaked shut, memories of his muscular torso replaying in her head. So Malfoy was a fine specimen of man, big deal. It's not like everyone didn't talk about that already. What got to her was the fact that she actually agreed with those love-struck women. The sky must be falling.

_No, you're falling. You've got a crush on your bedmate, and what's worse is that you're okay with it! You should be ashamed of yourself for thinking such things, but it's rather hard to do when he looks so bloody delicious. Oh Merlin, I did not just think that!_

Groaning she rolled on her stomach, wondering when she lost her sanity. Really, the notion that Malfoy had a nice torso was a bit obscure. She really shouldn't be focusing on such minimal things when there were far more important tasks at hand, but she couldn't help herself. She did sleep next to that after all.

Trying to refocus on something important, she thought back to what Abigail said at lunch today about the shadows. Draco thought that they shouldn't talk about such things in public, but Hermione reminded him that the girl was young and they could pass it off as imagination. There were a lot of spectators that day as the four sat eating lunch, the press trying to sneak in and snap photographs. Talk of the Malfoy-Granger adoption was huge, and she could already see people making a big deal out of this. There would be several spreads by tomorrow morning for sure, and dozens more to follow. The poor children wouldn't get a normal life for quite some time, not while their parents were legacies.

At lunch Abigail said the shadows were quite restless the last week or so, and that sometimes they even seemed to taunt her at night. Mostly the shadows tried to scare her, but it didn't always work. She wasn't easily scared, not after being chased by the dark blobs for years. But the shadows were restless, intimidating, and frightful, as though they were trying to get the girl to stay far away from Hermione and Draco. She said that they warned her, but didn't go into detail about the matter. Her adoptive parents later decided that it was probably something she just said, but they would take her word for it nonetheless.

Liam said he'd been experiencing the same sort of thing. Hermione recalled being attacked only a few days ago and knew things would be rocky, tonight especially. This was their first full night together in the same house as a family, and she expected that it would cause a lot of trouble. They were going to keep their door open tonight, in case anything weird started happening.

Although Hermione offered that they all sleep downstairs that night, something that really irritated Draco, the children declined, saying that they'd been dealing with this situation for a long time. She was a bit in awe over how courageous these children were. She wasn't even that brave at their age, but they reminded her of herself during Hogwarts; brave and gutsy.

She didn't even want to sleep alone after the other night. For once having Draco sleeping beside her could be beneficial. She wouldn't have to spend the night alone. After being cut by the faceless shadows she wasn't looking forward to tonight.

She changed quickly as she heard the shower stop, opting to take one in the morning instead. She was simply too tired to bother tonight, and too worried about what would happen. Talking to Draco about the shadows might have to wait until morning when she felt better and wasn't so worried about the children.

She sounded like a mother already.

Climbing into bed, she ignored the eccentric beating of her heart. Yes indeed, she was concerned with a plethora of things, but tried to shove them out of her mind. With any luck, the night would pass by quickly.

"What did you want to talk about regarding the shadows?"

"Nothing," she whispered, rolling away from the blonde. He didn't push the point, and a few minutes later she could hear his heavy breathing as he slipped into the world of dreams. It took her several minutes longer to get there.

* * *

A heavy weight awoke her, landing directly on her stomach and causing her to sputter. She coughed and the weight shifted. Draco was up in a moment, a hand resting on her back. The room lit up and she realized the unpleasant weight was Abigail who had jumped on her. Liam stood in the doorway, hesitant to enter.

"What's going on?" the blonde grumbled, obviously not awake yet. Hermione smoothed the girl's fringe to the side, looking down at her frightened eyes.

"The shadows are angry," the child whispered, looking up at her new mummy. The brunette glanced over her shoulder at Draco, who sat beckoning the young boy to the bed with them. Liam came after a moment of hesitation, but whether he refused to come instantly because he thought it was awkward or inappropriate escaped Hermione's mind.

"Why are they angry?" Hermione asked, knowing that she shouldn't be asking such questions. Any other mother in the world would tell her children that it was simply bad dreams and let them sleep in their bed for the night or something. But no, instead she was coddling the young girl, having seen these horrors with her own eyes.

"They don't like you," the girl said, toying with her fingers. "They are really angry that we're here."

"I know dear," she replied, pulling the girl onto her lap, "But they don't get a say in that. You're staying with us."

"Why are they so unhappy?"

"I don't know," she admitted, stroking the girl's hair. Looking over the top of the child's head, she could see Draco studying the little girl as Hermione comforted her, Liam looking far more comfortable and calm now.

"Can I see your necklace again?" he asked, causing the girl to look up. She nodded to her adoptive father, and he took the necklace that was handed over to him. The 'B' and snake symbol stuck out in the light. Hermione still had an eerie suspicion as to where it came from. "Mind if I hold onto this until tomorrow?"

She shook her head, scooting over on the bed to hug him. It took Draco several seconds longer than Hermione to respond, but when he did he hugged her tightly to him, hugging the older boy as well when he looked left out. His fake-girlfriend smiled contently. At least he could show some true empathy when he needed to.

"Tomorrow we're going to go see Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry," she said, piercing through the silence. She knew this news would brighten the children's day, as well as relieve the tension in the room. Abigail nearly started jumping on the bed.

"I get to meet _the_ Harry Potter?" she squealed, clapping her hands together. Hermione nodded, before being crushed into another hug by the child. "He's quite eager to meet you."

It wasn't a total lie. Harry might think that what she was doing was a good cause, but he still didn't like the setup. But that wouldn't make him shun two kids who couldn't help who adopted them. The awkward part would be dragging Malfoy along to be ridiculed. She hoped that Harry and Draco could hold their tongues until the children were out of earshot, or she would skin the both of them alive.

Getting the two to talk civilly wouldn't be as hard as keeping Ron in check. That was possibly the hardest thing she would face the entire day. She'd taken off from work tomorrow and left her most-trusted employee in charge just to make sure she was there the whole time. Whilst the children thought this endeavor would be fantastic, she couldn't be dreading it more. But her friends would want to meet the children as soon as possible, and the children would be elated to meet her friends. She couldn't just ignore the situation.

She just didn't really want to face it.

"Ron too?" Liam asked, looking between the two adults. "And Blaise?"

"Erm," Hermione said, having not planned a thing with Draco's friends. That was all on him.

"He'll stop by later once we're back," the blonde said airily. Well, this was news to her! He hadn't said anything about his friends, much less about the children meeting them. She wondered if this was maybe an instantaneous decision on his part.

"Cool," Liam said, looking towards Abigail who nodded in agreement. The four spoke for several minutes longer before yawns began to erupt from the children and Hermione suggested that maybe it was time to go to bed.

"Back in our own rooms?" Abigail asked, and Hermione was reminded that for the longest time these children hadn't received any comfort for their fears. Of course they would be apprehensive about going back to their bedrooms.

"You can sleep here tonight," she reassured, ignoring the look Draco sent her way. But we're going to have to figure out a way to make those rooms tolerable.

"Okay," the girl replied, snuggling in next to her new mummy. Liam and Draco did not snuggle, but the boy sandwiched himself between Hermione and him for the night. She thought it was adorable how awkward they acted.

Tomorrow would be a busy day. And she had a feeling that she would be having a talk with Draco about the necklace. He seemed to have some thoughts on it that he wasn't sharing.

* * *

**A/n: **And there's chapter 14! I hope you liked it, and having the children back is exciting again. Obviously they'll be far more involvement with them in the story now that they're adopted, and we're going to find out a whole lot more about the shadows, necklace and Hannah in the coming chapters. Thoughts? Let me know :)


	15. To be the Man

**A/n: **And here's chapter 11. Thanks to my beta **Hunter's Heir**!

**Written for**: Your Favorite Hogwarts House Bootcamp Challenge! Prompt 3 used- Knight in shining armor.

* * *

**15. To be the Man**

Getting the children to the Potter's was easy enough. Getting two children and an upset, unhappy adult man to the Potter's was bloody difficult.

It didn't help that twenty minutes before they were supposed to leave Draco decided it was time to show his fake-girlfriend something.

"What could possibly be this important?" she hissed, standing beside him. They had shut the door for the time being, telling the children they needed to finish getting ready. Now the door was locked, and Hermione stood glaring at the blonde.

"Well, since you insisted on having a pleasant, uninterrupted breakfast this morning, I thought I should wait to bring up anything mildly unhappy until afterwards. This happens to be the only time I've been able to actually grab you in private for a moment. Now would you quit complaining and just listen to what I have to say?"

"Why do I feel like it's not mildly upsetting?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow his way. "This sounds like something that just going to ruin my day."

"It ruined mine," he grumbled, producing the necklace he'd taken from Abigail last night. "Remember how I asked to hold onto this?"

"Yes?"

"Well, since the first time we saw it back at the orphanage I've been trying to remember where I've seen it before. Last night it clicked."

When he said no more, she raised her eyebrows and mockingly leaned closer. "And…"

"Hermione, this used to be my Aunt Bella's."

She froze, feeling her mouth dry up at the mention of the ludicrous woman. "You're mistaken."

"No, I'm not," he said with a sigh. "At first I thought I was, so that's why I asked to hold onto it. Upon closer inspection I couldn't deny that I used to see it hanging around her neck. This used to be one of her favorites. Only, it's been altered a bit, which is part of the reason I didn't recognize it immediately. See, this 'B' here wasn't there originally. It was added on. It used to just be a circular necklace with snake detailing."

Her face had gone pale, and slowly she extended her arms to take the necklace in her hands. "And you're sure?"

"Positive?"

"There's no way you're mistaken?"

"Hermione, I wouldn't bring it up if I thought I was possibly mistaken. Only there's no denying it. This used to be her necklace."

"But… how…" Her voice trailed off, spiraling into nothing. She was having a frightfully hard time figuring out how this little girl with her sweet personality and flamboyant attitude was at all related to the sinister, mentally unstable woman who worshipped Voldemort like a god. She couldn't find the connection, much less how she came into contact with such an awful thing.

When Draco spoke again, it only caused her heart to sink further. "She said it was her mother's…"

"Impossible," Hermione whispered, clutching the necklace tightly. "Bella's dead."

"Yes, but she wasn't by the end of the war. We both know that she was one of the rouge Death Eater's that escaped the final battle and caused terror across Britain and Europe once Voldemort fell. She was out of Britain for almost a year… at any point in time she could've gotten pregnant and had…"

"I won't believe it. Abigail is nothing like the monster your aunt was."

"And I agree with you, but if her story holds then she could very well be… somehow… related to me. We would just have to prove that this necklace was indeed hers, and that she didn't just find it one day or someone didn't hand it to her. It's the only explanation I can think of."

"What was your uncle's name?" she whispered, eyes downcast.

"Her husband? His name was Rodolphus."

She closed her eyes briefly. "He was killed at the beginning of the Final Battle."

"I know, I thought about that too. If Bella did have a child, then it wouldn't have been with her husband. At least, I don't think so. I don't think the math would add up otherwise."

"We'd have to do research to know for sure Draco."

He raised an eyebrow, reaching one hand over to rub her back. "We already have a lot of research to do. This we can just add to the pile. I already sent in an inquiry about Abigail's heritage to the Ministry, asking for Liam's as well to keep curiosity down. Since we did indeed adopt them, they can't deny us their background information now, like the names of a mother and father, or even a last name. Why they didn't give that to us is beyond me, but I think it's a little sketchy."

"It's all sketchy," she sighed, rubbing her eyes. "For Merlin's sake, when we agreed to adopt these children to help them I never thought… well, I never imagined that we would even figure out something like that."

"Neither did I. It seems that things are closer to home than we thought."

"What do you mean?" she asked, arching an eyebrow to look up at him. He shrugged, but she urged him to go on.

"It just seems too coincidental that Abigail ended up being adopted by us, when she might actually be related to me."

"It's like fate," Hermione muttered, but she could already see him shaking his head.

"I don't believe in fate, just in reality." He clutched the item in his hand, shoving it into his pocket. "If this truly is her necklace, then my mother would be able to confirm it. If I remember correctly, their mother gave it to Bella when she was still very young. The necklace is quite old."

"I see. And when do you plan on doing that?"

"Today if there ends up being time. If not, then tomorrow sometime. All I have to do is stop by for a short visit and ask a question."

"You don't think your parents want to meet the children?"

"Do you really want my parents meeting them?" He had a point. "My father isn't quite sane anymore Granger, and he can be dangerous at times. I wouldn't put those children in harm's way, meaning that I wouldn't bring them over there at all."

"Fair enough." She fiddled with the collar of her shirt, sheepishly glancing his way. "Are you ready for today?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "As I'll ever be."

"Fantastic! I'll go grab the children. And Draco, it might help if we don't pull that out while we're over there."

"Of course," he said, rolling his eyes. "I'm not stupid."

* * *

"Aren't you just so cute," Ginny said, pulling the little girl along. Abigail was elated to be speaking to Ginny Potter, who she had now dubbed _the best looking redhead on the planet._ Ginny was pretty fond of her too.

It helped that the Potter's had children, even if they were all younger than Liam. Nonetheless, the children hit it off right away, and Ginny and Harry were overjoyed with the pair.

"They're such good kids," the raven-haired man said later as the four sat at the table. "I'm surprised that they didn't get adopted sooner."

"If you saw where they were living you would understand," the blonde muttered, taking a swig of his drink when Harry looked his way to avoid answering any questions the man might've had. It worked and all attention quickly turned to Hermione, who was the only one out of the two that Harry and Ginny actually wanted to have a conversation with.

"Have they settled in yet?" Ginny asked excitedly, clutching her friend's hands.

"They've only been at the house for a day," the brunette reminded, looking between her friends. "They haven't really settled in at all."

"Oh, the house! I bet it's marvelous. Hermione, really, I must see this. I might not like you Malfoy, but you do have high-end taste. I bet it's lavish and secluded and has a library and far too many rooms for the four of you, doesn't it?!"

Hermione laughed at her friend's excitement. "Ginny, calm down! You can come visit sometime if you wish. You should wait though, since nothing is unpacked and the place is pretty much a mess at the moment. We still have a ton of things to finish putting away, and Draco has to learn to actually work in a kitchen."

Saying the blonde's first name briefly threw the conversation off as Harry and Ginny exchanged glances, but they recovered quickly enough from the initial shock and continued on with the conversation as though it never happened. Draco continued to sit silently, completely content on just listening and not actively participating.

Everything was going fine as the minutes passed on, and Harry even tried to talk to Draco for a bit about Quidditch, which made Hermione smile. He was at the very least putting forward an effort. She was actually beginning to relax just a hair when things took a turn for the worse.

Out in the living room the floo roared to life, and three of the table occupants froze. Draco seemed to be able to guess who had arrived easily enough and just rolled his eyes. That didn't make Hermione feel better though as she heard his voice carry in from the living room.

"Did Hermione leave with the ferret yet?" He marched into the kitchen a moment later, pausing at the door as he saw the four at the table, face tingeing red. She suspected it was more from annoyance than embarrassment.

"Oh, I see."

"How nice to see you too Weasley," the blonde replied arrogantly, sipping his drink. "Aren't you even a little surprised to see me?"

"I'm surprised that Harry and Ginny even _let_ you into their home," he spat, eyeing the couple. "Really, Hermione, you could do better."

"I didn't ask for your opinion Ronald," she grumbled, resting her cheek against her hand. In an effort to be pleasant, she looked up and smiled his way. "Would you care to join us? Harry and Draco were just discussing-"

"Don't call him that!" he snapped, glaring in her direction. "This whole situation is bad enough."

"Ron, I will address Draco as I please. There's no reason for you to get so upset. I-"

But Ron wasn't listening anymore, and instead gestured rudely to the brunette and turned and stalked away. She shook her head as he left, having hoped that Ron could be a bit more mature.

"Well, he's peachy," Draco grumbled, rolling his eyes. "I don't see why he needs to stop by if he's going to be so bloody offended about my presence."

Harry and Ginny exchanged a look, wondering if Hermione was looking past her annoyance yet to realize that Ron was angry for a reason. But the woman spoke first, standing as she worriedly looked around the table.

"Maybe I should go talk to him," she said, looking around. Her friends nodded encouragingly, but Malfoy only raised an eyebrow. That was fine, considering that she never actually thought he would understand. Sure, he could joke about things and take as many guesses as he liked, but that didn't mean that he would be correct. She left him sitting there awkwardly, her two best friends the only company he had in her absence. Oh well, he could live for a few minutes.

She discovered Ron in the loft upstairs, looking forlorn and pissed. Tentively sitting beside him, she cleared her throat as the stubborn man shifted away from her.

"Don't be that way Ron. You can't hold this grudge against me."

"I can do whatever I please," he snapped in return, eyeing her through slitted eyes. "You certainly have."

Her cheeks colored, and before she knew what she was doing she slapped him for the comment. "I'm your friend Ron, and you will not speak to me in such a manner! I know you're not as accepting about this as Harry, but that doesn't mean you get to be so rude to me. This was my choice, one you're going to have to accept."

"It's not right Hermione," he seethed, causing her eyebrows to shoot up. "You're supposed to be my girl."

Her eyes flashed and she stood again, hands on her hips. "Ron, don't even start this. I haven't been with you for years, try as you may to ignore the fact. We broke up because we _aren't compatible_. Just because you _wish_ that I was yours doesn't make it true! I'm trying this thing out with Draco now, and it's obviously not a fluke thing if we adopted _children_ together! I don't know when this sense of jealousy kicked in, but you're going to have to get over it!"

"What if I don't want to!?" he spat, standing as well. "Everyone always predicted we would be together Hermione- you're the one who constantly said no! Maybe if we had given things another go-"

"Don't finish that sentence Ron," she warned, placing her hands on her hips. "Just don't. You don't need to be digging up old pains."

"What if I want to?" he asked, stepping closer. His hands came to rest lightly on her hips, but she shrugged them off.

"Ron, weren't you trying to get things going with Lavender? Don't jeopardize things just because you're upset with the road I chose to take in life."

"Hermione," the ginger said desperately, grabbing her again, pulling her towards his body. "You can still change your mind."

"What's gotten into you?" she asked, pushing on his chest. "Ron, we both agreed not to-"

He bent forward before she could finish, his lips finding hers. She felt the same lack of connection she always had when kissing him, like she was detached from her body during the kiss. There was no overriding emotion, no need to kiss back, and she kept her hands pressed against his chest, working to push him off. But Ron wasn't paying any attention, trying to find a spark within their lukewarm kiss.

"Weasley, get _off_ her."

Ron was startled enough by the voice to let up and Hermione shoved him off, planting her hands on her hips. She already knew who was at the door, and felt a furious blush creeping up her cheeks as Ron's cheeks turned scarlet. Footsteps told her that he was approaching, and a moment later she felt him slip an arm around her. She didn't' exactly expect that.

"Do try to keep your hands on someone else," he retorted, sizing the ginger up. This only added to the fuel of Ron's fire, and he balled up his hands.

"Shut up Ferret! It's not like you deserve her."

"Ron, what are you doing?" Hermione cut in, shaking her head. "Stop prolonging things. This is completely out of hand! Not only do you have no right to kiss me, but you don't have a right to be mad at Draco that you did kiss me either. In fact, he should be angrier at you. We are trying to be together after all."

_Play along Draco, play along…_

"She's completely right Weasley," the blonde agreed, remaining remarkably calm. But then, Hermione had to suddenly remind herself that they weren't in a serious relationship either, they were just pretending, so it's not like he had any reason to get worked up. "That's not how you kiss a woman."

The comment threw her off, and she had to look back at him briefly with large eyes. Her surprise didn't last long though, for the blonde was wasting no time making a show of things. He cupped her cheek softly in a much more loving manner than Ron had done moments before, kissing her softly in clear view of the ginger. She expected an explosion.

None came. In fact, she found herself responding to his kisses, despite herself. She had her arms wrapped around the man's neck in a few short seconds, briefly forgetting that they were not alone.

When Ron cleared his throat, she remembered his presence and jumped away from Draco, who smirked from ear to ear. He seemed to be enjoying himself way too much. Turning back to address Ron for his rude behavior (she couldn't say anything to Draco presently, considering that they were supposedly together) and stopped short, noticing the expression on his face.

He looked hurt and defeated. She expected anger, foul words even, but not the saddened look that now decorated his features. He sat down, watching the brunette with stern eyes, but said nothing about the interaction he just witnessed. She suspected that he didn't want to.

She cleared her throat as well, awkwardly grabbing Draco's hand. It scared her how much she wanted to jump on him and kiss him again. For the time being she shoved the idea down, but kept it stored nearby to think on once they returned to Hampshire.

"I think we'll be going," she said, trying to ignore the content sound in her voice. Draco was way too pleased with this. "I'll… see you around."

Ron didn't say anything to that, and she took it as her cue to leave. Dragging the smirking man out of the room, she ignored the content feeling inside. Why oh why could the blonde make her feel this way from such a simple act? The kiss wasn't even that intimate!

Why did Draco Malfoy suddenly seem like her knight in shining armor- not because she needed to be saved back there, but because it felt like she was being carried off from the place by his kiss? Why did the prat have to start being so bloody nice now?

* * *

**A/n:** Next chapter we'll look into what Draco really thought of finding Ron and Hermione upstairs together. And we'll see more of the children. Sorry that there's not much Harry/Ginny/children interaction this time, but it'll come. We might also get to know more on the necklace, and of course there's more about the shadows coming! Stay tuned and keep up with the reviews :D


	16. I Have to Be

**A/n**: And here's a new chapter! Thanks to **Hunter's Heir** for betaing! **Not yet edited.

* * *

**16. I have to Be**

"Do you understand what would've happened if either of them actually saw you?" the blonde fumed later once they had returned to Hampshire. "Our entire story would've been blown!"

"It's not my fault you stormed in like this was a great offense to you or something!" Hermione shot back, balling up her fists. "I could've handled myself Draco."

"Maybe, but you didn't. If things were handled there would've been nothing to walk in on."

"I told you I was about to stop it!" She threw her hands up, pacing the room in the same heated way the blonde was. "You just so happened to barge in at the wrong time."

"Weasley seemed to think so too," he pointed out, and she spun around again, pointing a finger his way.

"Would you stop with that?! I don't know what's gotten into Ron, but I'm not the one who insinuated the action, okay? He kissed me!"

"And you just stood there!"

"What's the problem Draco?" she taunted, placing her hands on her hips. "I thought you didn't like me."

"I don't!"

"Then why are you so upset!? Abigail and Liam were nowhere around at the time! Everything was perfectly fine! If you didn't blow up-"

"Oh please, Hermione, you enjoyed having me save you." He was glaring at her, liquid eyes trying to burn holes through her cranium. She stood firm, knowing that the blonde was refusing to mention a few choice things.

"So what if I did?" she challenged, raising an eyebrow. He smirked at that.

"Are you admitting it?"

"Absolutely not, this is a hypothetical situation. So why do you seem so pleased that I supposedly _enjoyed _having you save me? Must I remind you that I'm a very independent woman?"

He shook his head, smirking now. "No Granger, I doubt you need to remind anyone of that." He stepped closer to her before she could react, drawing her in by her waist. "So what if I enjoyed saving you? Is that a crime?"

"What are you doing?" she asked, drawing herself from the situation. He was touching her now, holding her body close to his. She wasn't as susprised as she thought she should be that she liked the contact.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he challenged, bending towards her to lightly bite her neck. Startled the brunette let an obvious gasp out, arms flying around his neck at their own accord. Merlin help her, but it felt _good_. "Besides, you don't seem to mind."

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked again, leaving her limbs where they were as a tongue darted out, massaging the area he had just applied pressure to.

"I think American's use the term _wooing_."

"Draco Malfoy!" she cried, jumping away from him, eyes wide. "Did you just admit that you're trying to impress me?"

"Maybe a little. It wouldn't be so bloody hard if you didn't have the attitude of someone with a broom shoved-"

"Just stop there," she replied, shaking her head as the ghost of a smile danced across her lips. "I know I can be stubborn."

"Can be? You're terrible!"

"Draco, what are you getting at?" She crossed her arms, playfully cocking an eyebrow. Damn it all, she was going to make him admit what he was after.

Shaking his head, blonde fringe came to temporarily hide his eyes. "Damn it Granger, you know what I'm after. I wouldn't oppose the notion of actually _trying _to be with you."

Hermione grinned from ear to ear, moving back to drape her arms around his neck again. It was way to pleasing to hear him say that. "I see. And if I didn't quite oppose the notion as well?"

Draco relaxed at that, and she didn't realize until then that he was tense. Was the arrogant prick actually nervous in that moment? He did, after all, let his emotions get the best of him earlier. "Then I think we could both agree that trying with unorthodox relationship out for real wouldn't be too far-fetched."

"I do agree," she said, smiling when he placed his hands on her hips. "I think it could be quite… interesting."

"It's going to be irrational you know."

"Completely unpredictable."

"People will talk more than they already have when we actually display emotion."

"The gossip will be huge."

"A scandal really."

"The children might be confused."

"Our friends might be angrier than they already are."

"So are we going to go for it?"

"Of course bookworm," he joked, bending down to lightly peck her on the lips. "I wouldn't be so angry at Weasley if I didn't want to try something with you, would I?"

Hermione smiled at that, deepening the kiss. Well, she had jumped in headfirst already. She might as well enjoy the right. She knew a relationship with Draco could be quite tedious, especially considering all the extra baggage and issues. Hopefully, they weren't making an enormous mistake.

* * *

Draco disappeared almost an hour later to go visit his parents, alone, taking Abigail's necklace with him. Hermione stayed back with the children, having no interest whatsoever to go visit the cold Malfoy elders. The children stayed with her, both adults thinking it was best to delay a meeting between Draco's parents and the two minors as long as possible. Personally, the brunette didn't think they needed to meet the two at all.

Unfortunately, the blonde wasn't convinced on the matter. It was an argument they could save for later, however, since he had some investigating to do about the necklace, and Hermione had work of her own to do. Currently, she was owling the Ministry. Though they would be checked on anytime in the next week, the social service workers who would come and intrude on their home could not provide the answers that she needed.

She wanted to know Abigail's heritage- needed to know it, really, to move along in this investigation of the shadows at all. She didn't want another night of no sleep just because the blasted things wanted to scare the poor kids. That she simply wouldn't accept. Therefore, she was owling the Ministry to inquire about Abigail's records. If the girl existed, then a file existed someplace on her. And the Ministry would have it. Now that she and Draco were the children's legal guardians they couldn't be denied that knowledge.

Besides, Blaise was scheduled to come visit later. Meaning that she should try and interact with her former classmate instead of ignoring his existence to do paperwork. Draco made an effort with her friends, and she should extend the same courtesy to him. Besides, she doubted Blaise would try to hit on her. All she hoped wouldn't happen was a repeat of the Ron incident. That was something no one needed.

In her mind, she was still rolling over the idea of Bellatrix Lestrange being that poor girl's mother. The idea still creeped her out, but she knew that she couldn't yet deny it, so she'd made a list of possible father's for the girl, going off of what she knew about these people during the times Abigail could've been conceived.

_Rodolphus Lestrange _(though it seemed that he was deceased before that time)

_Lucius Malfoy _(he's supposedly insane now, right? Maybe that's why)

_Rabastan Lestrange_

_Voldemort _(she wasn't quite sure that one was either logical or even possible)

_Amycus Carrow_

_Crabbe Senior_

_Antonin Dolohov _(she really didn't like to think about him)

_Fenrir Greyback _(illogical in many cases since this girl didn't seem to have any werewolf traits)

_Mulciber…_

The list went on and on. Hermione had named every possible Death Eater she could think of, and knew that Draco could probably think of several dozen more. Without DNA, blood samples or anything else to go off of it was quite hard to narrow down people, meaning that she would need to obtain such things as well from the Ministry, or subtly inquire about them. She wasn't too sure she'd done a good job at that, but attempted to nonetheless. Now that they were settled in, they really needed to get down to business. None of them would live peacefully until the shadows no longer bothered them.

"Hermione!" She spun around in her chair at the sound of the voice, watching first Liam and then Abigail break through the half-closed door into Draco's office (hers wasn't quite set up yet). They looked out of breath, frightened, and her motherly instincts kicked in, telling her to see what was up.

Directing them to the two comfortable chairs in the room she forced them to sit, leaning against the desk in front of them. "What's wrong?"

"The shadows are so angry," Liam said, speaking first. Abigail nodded her agreement, looking up at the brunette as though she had all of the answers. "I think they are mad at you."

"Why me?" Gingerly she began rubbing her wrist, the place that had yet to heal. Light streamed through the open blinds as they spoke, seemingly comforting the two kids. "Tell me what they think I did."

"You're writing a letter," she whispered, leaning forward. "They don't like the letter."

Frowning, the woman glanced all around the room. She hadn't felt like she was being watched as she wrote, and the entire place was bathed in warm sunlight. How these elusive creatures knew what she was writing, she didn't know, but she hated the feeling of being watched.

"Do you know what I'm writing?"

"A letter," Liam replied with a shrug, "Back to the Ministry. I don't know what about."

Hermione nodded, taking what he said in. "Why do they never speak to me? I've seen them multiple times, yet they've never uttered a word to me."

Abigail straightened up, point a finger her way. "You're an adult. They won't speak to you."

"What does being an adult have to do with anything? I see them, same as you."

"But you don't believe," Liam added, jumping in. "You grow up and you don't believe in the undead, the shadows, or anything like that. You want to be logical. The shadows aren't. They don't make sense to you, so you don't believe in them all the way. So you can't understand them."

"So if I learn to believe… I can talk to them too?"

The children exchanged a glance. "I don't think so," the boy continued, "I've never seen them speak to adults, only kids. They like kids better."

_Because children are easier to scare_. She crossed her arms in front of her, looking between the two. "Did the shadows say anything else?"

The pair shook their heads. "No, they just got angry and chased us around," Abigail said. "Liam opened the drapes and they had to go away. Then we were scared and ran up here to you. Now we're safe."

Smiling at that, she pat both children on the heads, hugging only Abigail who took the action into her own hands. "Well then, maybe the two of you should spend time with me until Draco gets home. Go get your toys, or a book, and we'll all stay in here for a while. It's very sunny. They won't be a bother."

Agreeing the two headed to the door, Hermione rolling things over in her mind. The older boy was almost out when she called out to him: "Liam?"

"Yes?" he asked, turning back. The woman had a concerned look in her eyes, studying him up and down twice before speaking.

"Why did you mention the undead earlier?"

Blinking he tilted his head to the side, temporarily confused by her question. "You don't know yet?"

"I don't know what?" she asked hesitantly, concerned by the tone of his voice. The boy shoved his hands into his pockets, avoiding his eyes.

"They're dead people. I don't know them, and they aren't all the dead people of the world, but they don't live anymore. They're all angry for some reason, though I think they are different reasons for each person. Some are girls, some are boys."

Hermione blinked, having never noticed this detail. Whenever she saw the shadows they were always shapeless, cloaked, or simply a pair of eyes. She'd never seen one that resembled a certain gender, much less anyone she could identify. Maybe that was another disadvantage of being an adult; you couldn't see the shadows true forms.

It was like an ironic, horrible twist to the phrase _I see dead people. _She almost felt sick. He had to be joking or something. Nodding without speaking, she beckoned with her hand that he could leave. Once left by herself she took two deep breaths, trying to both process the new information and to try and calm down before the children returned.

No wonder they were so scared all of the time. Now she really needed to talk to Draco.

* * *

"I thought you hated this place as a kid Draco?"

"I did. It was boring, seeing as I'm an only child. And the woman who decorated before my mother had no sense of style. The place was totally hideous. I hated when we would vacation here. But now my parents don't use this place anymore, and I had it totally redecorated and refurnished before we moved in. It's much better now."

"So I see." Blaise sipped his drink, smiling pleasantly at Hermione. He was still a bachelor, having yet to settle down. Thus he brought along no one to entertain the two children Hermione and Draco now cared for, which meant that they kept popping up every five minutes with excuses to speak to the new visitor.

And Blaise was quite the hit with the children. They really loved him.

"I like your accent," Abigail said the next time she showed up, smiling widely at him. The shock of meeting yet another real-life version of her newspaper clippings wore off quickly, as Blaise was very laid back, and quickly the girl turned into a bubble of questions. Liam, who always tried to act more composed, ended up asking a lot of questions as well. And Zabini was very kind, despite being bugged. He didn't push the children away, and instead answered every question they had.

Hermione decided that they asked Blaise so many questions because they had nothing else to do, whereas at her friends they had other friends around their age to spend time with. She was just happy that everyone got along.

"So, what do you do Hermione?" he asked at length, resorting to using her real name fairly quickly. He didn't have a grudge against her like her friends did with Malfoy, and the action was much more natural.

"I own a bookstore," she said proudly.

"Ah, that sounds quite like you. Draco always had to make a snide comment about your love for reading during school. I can see why you chose that career path. What do you sell?"

"Rare books," she said, elated that someone actually cared enough to ask. "I also sell a lot of fiction, historical reference books, books on Hogwarts and other magical schools, and the like. No fairy-tale books enter my store, unless of course they are rare."

"She's a killjoy like that," Draco joked from the other side of Blaise, earning a sassy glare from Hermione for it. The exchange didn't escape Blaise, but he let it slide, deciding to confront his friend about it later.

"I'm not a killjoy. But it is my store, and I decide what is sold."

"Fair enough," Blaise intervened, smirking at the two. They really did fight like lovers, even if they didn't see it. He thought it was quite comical in a way.

At length Blaise left, having to get up for his job in the morning. All four of the people in that house kept him there for ages with questions, stories and jokes. While they were indeed a lively, controversial group he did have obligations to fulfill in the morning, and eventually departed.

Once he left Hermione pulled Draco to the side of the room as the two children gathered their toys. He cocked an eyebrow, uncertain what she wanted. Without missing a beat, she relayed what the children told her earlier that day.

"Maybe that's why we don't make progress," he muttered, eyeing the two. "Because apparently we're too old for this."

"How ironic," she snapped, looking at him. "What do you propose we do?"

He inclined his head in Abigail's direction. "Well, we won't know much about her until your letter is returned and we can get some information on her heritage. We might as well focus on this."

"Great analysis. Now my question Draco, again, is how do we go about things?"

"That," the blonde replied, catching her eyes, "Is an excellent question."

* * *

**A/n:** Thoughts, comments, concerns? Let me know! Oh, and look, it's even an early update :)


	17. I'll take a Breath

**A/n**: Thanks to my new beta **Hunter's Heir**!

* * *

**17. I'll take a Breath**

It was later that night as they sat in bed that Draco reported what he knew of the necklace. Apparently, his mother almost had a stroke when she saw it.

"It's definitely dear Aunt Bella's," he said sarcastically, handing the emblem to her. "She said it was sacrificial that she placed her initial over the rest of the design though."

"Why?" Hermione asked, looking up at him. Her fingers danced over the necklace, feeling each indention. If she wasn't informed that the 'B' was added on, she probably wouldn't have noticed. There was no way to feel where the letter was added in, and she wondered why the woman spent so much time to make the add-on appear to be part of the original design.

"I guess the necklace is some sacred Black family heirloom or something. My mother had a necklace just like this one, minus the 'B' of course. Andromeda's was destroyed when the family disowned her. I don't know about anyone else's. Apparently all the Black children are given one. I guess I was supposed to have one, but my father wouldn't hear of it. I'm always supposed to be considered a Malfoy, through and through, never mind my mother's heritage."

The brunette nodded, setting the necklace between them. "So did your mother have anything else to say about it, besides that it's very important to the family?"

"She said Bella never really wore hers. She wasn't into the _family pride _nonsense, which is quite true to the woman I once knew. Why she bothered doing anything with a necklace that she hated though escapes me."

"I agree." She reached out to the bedside table drawer, pulling out a paper she had hidden there earlier. "I made a list of possible… fathers that I thought you might as well take a look at. It's all about guessing since we don't actually have any DNA or anything back from the Ministry yet, but…"

"You want me to go through and eliminate people that I know can't be it?" She nodded, giving him the list she'd constructed of almost thirty names. He'd barely started scanning when his eyes bulged out and he looked at her with large, disgusted eyes.

"You got to the name Voldemort, didn't you?"

"How can you possibly consider _him _to be a candidate? He went through so many resurrections and tried so many unearthly dark spells on his own body that he was barely considered human in the end. I wouldn't even try placing a gender on him!"

"Unless you can completely outlaw him for a _logical_ reason, don't mark him off the list."

Draco made a face, but abided by what she said. Quill in hand, he went through and marked off different people that seemed completely illogical to him for one reason or other. She planned to get full explanations for each one later. When he handed her back the paper, her eyebrows shot up.

"You left like seven names!"

The blonde shrugged, placing a hand on her knee. "You told me to remove everything illogical, so I did."

"How is Regulus illogical? He lived longer than Rodolphus!"

"That doesn't mean that he can be the one! Look, Bella despised him, even if she didn't let on about it. Behind closed doors they bickered continuously. There's no way she'd ever lay down with him."

"You think she actually laid down?" They both shivered, wondering why the hell she had to bring that up.

"Don't even bring up that visual picture again."

"I promise Draco, I won't."

"Oh, good." Nodding contently, he ignored the fact that she wrote _'okay'_ beside Regulus' name. They could dispute about that some other time.

After an awkward moment of silence, which they both used to focus on happier things, Hermione cleared her throat and spoke. "So what do you think the necklace really means?"

The blonde arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… if Bellatrix hated it, then why did she give it to her supposed daughter? Could it be as a symbol of her distaste for the child?"

"It's Bella Hermione; she'd sooner just drop the kid off alone on the streets than spend time putting anything on the girl if she really detested Abigail. Why she did, I have no idea. I was never very close with her to begin with, and during the end of the war I tried to avoid her as much as possible. How that girl even ended up with such a commonplace name like _Abigail _remains a mystery to me. It's too every-day for Bella's standards."

Hermione tilted her head, thinking about that. "You're right Draco, it is too commonplace."

"Okay?"

"What if her name was changed when she finally got to the orphanage? Maybe the owner- what did you say her name was again?- couldn't pronounce it or thought the girl would live a happier life if she only had a regular name. I doubt whoever took Abigail in realized that her mother was the goddess of mayhem."

"Goddess of mayhem, hmm? Actually, that's quite fitting." She gently slapped his hand, trying to remind him to stay on topic. "Oh, right. Look, I can't just pull answers out of thin air. Until we actually know something about her heritage, all we can do is guess."

"What if the father's still alive?" she wondered aloud, even as Draco pulled the necklace and papers away. "Does that mean that he would still have some sort of custody over her?"

"Considering that every possible candidate we have is a former Death Eater Hermione, I would say no. If he is somehow alive then he's either in Azkaban or running from it. The Ministry would never give a rogue Death Eater the custody of anyone, even their own child. They simply can't be trusted. Besides, there's enough crazies running around on the streets as it is. Even if they did catch wind of something, the kids are safe with us."

"I suppose you're right," she admitted, scooting closer to him on the bed. "The house is fully warded; no one's going to break in."

"I made sure of it."

"I made double-sure of it."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm aware." Pulling her up on his lap, he nuzzled his nose into her neck, inhaling her scent. They sighed contently, happy to sit there. Then Draco flipped matters around when he started kissing her neck.

Hermione couldn't help herself. Her head fell back, a small gasp escaping her throat when he sucked particularly hard on a certain area. He bit down lightly as he started trailing up, kissing along her jawbone and her chin until her found her lips, lightly tilting her head back up. She wrapped her arms around his neck at that, once again deepening the kiss.

Draco was a pretty awesome kisser, and he knew it too. In one swift motion he'd adjusted the entire situation, moving them from a sitting position to a much more intimate one- lying down. She was on her back and he leaned over her, continuing on with the kiss. Unable to help herself she placed her hands on his chest, gently pushing him back. He pulled away with an arch in his brow, until he noticed the concern in her eyes.

"Calm down Hermione, I'm not after anything, okay?"

Content with his answer she nodded, pulling him down into the kiss again. They continued on that way for several minutes until he finally pulled away, pecking her cheek before he moved to lie down on his side. Without thinking she turned as well and wiggled up against him, getting comfortable in his grasp. Although startled for a moment, he quickly recovered and placed an arm around her waist. He gave her one last kiss on the ear, and they fell asleep that way.

Now, that's how a _real _first kiss should feel. Hermione decided to keep that in her mind as their first kiss instead of Draco's spontaneous kiss in front of the social workers. This was far more romantic.

They were so caught up in their actions that they didn't notice the figures in the corner watching them kiss, and then drift off to sleep. They didn't see the ghost of a woman with stringy curls sticking out in all directions glaring at them with fire in her eyes, and venom in her soul.

They also missed out on seeing her lover, a taller man with an arm draped around her waist. It was this action alone that caused the tight lipped smirk to remain on her face.

Even in death, Bella always got what she wanted.

* * *

Days passed before Hermione got her letter in the mail back from the Ministry. Having her signature on the front and the Malfoy seal on the back didn't seem to do a thing about speed, and as she looked through the mail one morning that their trusty owl brought by she almost discarded the item.

Realizing what it was, she hastily looked around before opening it. The children were in the living room eating breakfast, and Draco was upstairs showering. She was getting ready to head off to the bookstore in about an hour, but this letter might change her plans. Sitting down, she ripped it open.

_Dearest Regards Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy~_

_It is against Ministry rules to send specific information to anyone. We usually have the partent come down and look the information over in our office. This prevents it from falling into the wrong hands. But after speaking with my supervisor, Miss Granger, I was granted permission to send what we have through. I would like to inform you that what we have is scarce at best._

_The background that we could pull up for a girl named Abigail with no last name is next to nothing. Of course, after a bit of looking around we meshed together different things that never seemed to really tie together over the case of this young girl. A quick background check has been fastened to the rest of this letter for you to look at. It contains the information gathered that we were able to get on the child's background. It seems that no one ever took the time to do the proper documentation._

_It has also come to our attention that Miss Abigail is missing nearly every shot, potion and vaccine that a child her age is supposed to have. I'm not sure how this slipped by social services, but it must be corrected immediately. Not only is this bad for her health, but the child will be unable to get into Hogwarts or any other school for that matter until her record is updated. A trip to St. Mungo's should be top priority right now._

_Also while you're there, you may as well leave a sample of her DNA for us to run the tests on. We also seem to be lacking that bit of information on her as well. We'll be getting into contact with the orphanage she was adopted from immediately to inquire about these faults. The girl shouldn't be such an overlooked spot on the radar. There's almost nothing on her._

_I can't pull up anything on her heritage currently since there's nothing to run a DNA scan with. Once St. Mungo's receives it we'll set right to work on it and owl you back immediately once we actually know something._

She felt Draco come up behind her, his tall frame towering over hers. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he stood there, and she knew that he was reading the letter as well.

_As for Mr. Liam, quite a bit was managed to be pulled up on him. We have DNA that we were able to match back to the young boy, and a last name as well. It's all included in the file I sent to you. Why there is so much on him and so little on Miss Abigail I don't know, but we will be getting to the bottom of this._

_Mr. Liam also needs an updated record. He is missing the same vaccinations, shots and potions that Miss Abigail is. I'd advise getting them both updated at the same time. _

_For his heritage, we attached a family tree copy. You can trace his family back quite a ways. The mother is alive somewhere out there, but I did not send the address along as it is up to you whether or not to contact her- you and Liam both. It's a decision that can be waited on for some years still._

_Everything that can currently be offered to you is attached. I am sorry that more can't be given, but we're investigating the orphanage this minute to inquire why so much is missing. We're also looking into Miss Abigail's background to see if we can pull anything up. She is a rare case, I must say. There appears to be no genealogy on her anywhere._

_If you wish to inquire about anything else, you can address your letter to me personally, the both of you. We'll be sending through what we can on Abigail's heritage as soon as possible._

_Well wishes,_

_~Cho Chang, Director of ancestry and historical preservation_

She waited many moments after she finished reading for the blonde to pull away, making sure that he got every word of it too. She supposed that Chang probably took the letter upon herself when she recognized a certain name, considering that some of the content listed had nothing to do with ancestry or historical preservation.

Dropping her arms, she turned and looked at him. "I guess… we don't need to turn Hannah in. A thorough investigation of that place will be enough to have the orphanage closed."

Draco nodded, knowing that they were both a bit too surprised by what they read to jump headfirst into conversation. "There are so many murders right now with the escapee Death Eater's prowling around that sometimes I'm surprised that anything besides arrests gets done."

"Well, this is important too," she muttered, leaning against the counter. "Don't you think it's strange that they have nothing on her though?"

"Very. Unless there was a mid-wife at her birth, which I doubt Bella would ever go through with, she should have a record somewhere. I think-"

He was cut off by a crashing sound from the other room, one that got the parents attention very quickly. Barely exchanging a glance, Hermione thrust the letter into her pocket as Draco moved ahead of her, going to see what was wrong. A scream followed, and before they could even get to the living room Abigail was in front of them, throwing her arms around the man's legs.

"They're so angry!"

"Where's Liam?" Hermione asked, eyes flashing. The little girl pointed her hand in the direction she'd come from and the brunette hurried forward, Draco following behind as he picked the girl up.

Liam stood on the other side of the room from them, a small flicker of flame blocking him off from the other three. With a quiet gasp the woman had her wand out, extinguishing the flame immediately. She only half wondered why it hadn't started spreading. Without a moment's hesitation the boy hopped over to the two adults, wrapping his arms around Hermione's slim waist.

"What's going on?" she asked immediately, looking between the two. Draco glanced at them as well, looking for a flicker of guilt across either of their faces.

"Why was the living room partially on fire?" he added at length when neither child spoke.

Abigail lifted her head from his shoulder at that. "I told you they're angry."

"What? The shadows?"

She nodded, looking Hermione's way. "I told you before they didn't like the letters." The adults glanced at each other, expressions guarded. Once again, they didn't notice anyone around while they were reading. It was unnerving that this kept happening.

"Did they say anything to you?"

"Nope. The man whispered something and walked on the floor, and it created that thin line of flame."

Nodding again, she placed her fingertips to her face, the gears in her head spinning. "And we still can't see them because we're adults?"

"Or talk to them," Liam piped up. "You're too old."

Draco made a face, apparently unhappy about being called old. But Hermione had an idea cooking inside her head.

"Put away your dishes," she said, patting the boy's shoulder. "We'll go out later today, visit some shops and stop someplace to eat."

Looking excited now, the prior fear both minors felt earlier disappeared at the news of going out. Abigail jumped out of Draco's arms at the same time that Liam released Hermione, and the two scrambled to pick up their things. Shrugging, Draco moved to return upstairs and retrieve his wallet, but Hermione was already following him up the stairs.

"You have that look in your eye again, bookworm."

"What look?"

"The look that says _'I have an idea but it's either ingenius or utterly stupid'_ type of look."

She frowned, folding her arms as they walked. "Actually, yes, for your information, I do have an idea."

"Care to share?"

Smiling, she gripped his hand, already knowing that he would think she was utterly insane. "I have to go to work for a few hours _sometime_ today."

"Your point? I have a bad feeling about this."

Lightly playing with the pad of his hand, she continued talking. "I might send Harry and Ginny an owl… asking if they'll watch the children tonight or tomorrow."

The blonde's eyebrows shot up and he looked her way, wondering about the implication. "And?"

"And… I was wondering if you'd pick up a few potion ingredients while you're out."

He stopped walking, turning to cross his arms over his chest. "I knew I wasn't going to like this. And I suppose you're going to brew it before the children go away."

"Earlier actually if possible. It might take a few hours to set. We can go through with it while they are over at my friends."

"And what exactly are we going through with."

Pursing her lips, she rocked back and forth on her heels. "Well…"

"Well?"

"Remember how the kids said we're too old to see the shadows clearly."

"Oh, Merlin. You're not actually thinking of creating a youth potion are you?"

"Of course not! That's sincerely crazy! Just… one that would reverse our age for a few hours. It would give us time to try and understand things through their eyes."

"Or to lose our minds. They don't seem very happy to be able to see the figures."

"Well, they're also scared if you've already forgotten. Trust me on this, okay? You can even brew it if it'll make you feel better."

He sighed, running fingers through his hair as they continued walking. How the hell did he ever get tangled into ideas like this?

Oh, right- he got involved with Hermione Granger.

**A/n:** Chapter seventeen everyone! I'm really looking forward to the next few chapters… things are going to be revealed and I must say… they'll be a lot of fun to write! Anything to say about this chapter? Who do you think the man and women were that were watching our favorite couple sleep :)

This was supposed to come out a few days ago but I don't think it ever uploaded correctly. So I re-uploaded it.


	18. I'll Take Her

**A/n**: Thanks to my beta **Hunter's Heir**!

* * *

**18. I'll Take Her**

Taking the children out ended up being quite enjoyable for all four participants. Hermione left after a few hours to go to her bookstore and actually work, promising a very upset Liam that she would bring him back something to read. Left alone with two hyper children, the blonde decided it was time to take a detour to the park.

The children ran off to play, leaving Draco some time alone to think things over. Watching them play, he couldn't help thinking how batty Hermione was to come up with an age-reversal potion. Sure, the idea wasn't unheard of, but the prospect wasn't recommended. Reversing your age sometimes had strange side effects.

Not only that, but he had a lot to think about concerning his almost-girlfriend. He wouldn't label his current bedmate, not when he was still uncertain about where their relationship actually stood. They'd been trying out actually being together for what- a day? Maybe two? It was way too soon to be trying to label her as anything in his mind. Currently, she was just Hermione, and she came along with a gaping amount of dilemmas.

First, he still very well knew that her wrist gave her pains. If their last visit to St. Mungo's didn't concern her about the dangerous effects of whatever happened when she was cut, then returning to get Abigail and Liam's potions and shots should be the perfect time to get her in to be seen again. He was still quite concerned about it, and didn't want to prolong anything if he could help it. Tomorrow sometime they planned to go to St. Mungo's and get that done, but he wouldn't mention having her seen until they were there. He figured she'd find a creative excuse concerning work as a reason to not go, and would skip the whole visit. That simply couldn't happen.

On top of her wrist, he was apprehensive to send her near Weasley. Whether the guy was lonesome, creepy, or anything else, it didn't matter to Draco. He was currently engaging in something with Granger, and wouldn't stand for the freckled face of the Weasel getting in his way. Besides, she didn't look like she enjoyed the kiss last time very much either. That was a bonus in his favor. Hopefully she was true to what she said and didn't have any affections for him.

"Mr. Malfoy," came a voice, catching his attention. He looked over to spot a thin woman in a tight suit, walking towards him. Arching an eyebrow, he waited to see what she wanted. "You are Mr. Malfoy, correct?"

"Who else would I be?"

She rolled her eyes. "I was told you'd be graced with charm. I'm Penelope Clearwater, attorney-"

"Did you say attorney? Sorry, go look for someone else named Draco. I didn't call for one of them."

She tilted her chin up, pulling a card from her pocket. "Not yet anyway. I suppose you haven't received the letter yet?"

He narrowed his eyes. "What letter?"

"Just as I thought. There should be a letter at your home waiting for you. Where is Miss Granger? Is she nearby?"

"She's occupied," he replied lamely, keeping his answers vague. "Mind telling me why I should be calling an attorney?"

"Fraudery," she replied, blonde eyebrows drawing together. "I suppose you've been briefed on nothing."

He opened his mouth to reply, but was cut short by the bounding form of Liam approaching. The boy stopped in front of his foster-father, looking first at the unfamiliar woman and then at Draco.

"Who's she?" he asked in his best whisper voice. Draco smiled softly, standing up as he placed a hand on the boys shoulder.

"Just an acquaintance," he remarked, looking away from the woman. "Where's Abigail?"

"Over there," he replied, pointing to the right. She was running about in the grass, doing cartwheels every so often. "Will you come play with us?"

He glanced at the woman before nodding. "Yes. I'll be right over, okay?"

The child grinned from ear to ear before racing away, returning to the girl's side. They began a game of tag and continued to run around the park, giving Draco a moment longer to consult this unlikely source.

"Do you have a card or something?"

Penelope smirked, pulling a card from inside her jacket. Whether it came from inside her shirt or not Draco didn't know, and he tried to not think about it. "I knew you would see it my way."

"I don't see anything," he replied with a sign. "You've explained nothing."

"The letter that's waiting for you at your home will explain most everything. I'm sure Miss Granger will look over every detail of it."

_Probably. _"And you think I'm just going to call you over whatever matter this is because you came to bother me in a park?"

She shrugged, turning away. "I think you will call me because you will want to act quickly. But you have children waiting on you, don't you Mr. Malfoy?" She didn't wait for his response. "I'm sure we will be in touch."

He frowned, watching the woman wander off. She never looked back, and he didn't wait long to turn away. Abigail waved at him as he approached, and he smiled at the child.

What had the woman so sure they'd floo her?

* * *

Finding the letter when they were both home later didn't take long. The children were in bed by the time that Hermione and Draco finally had time to sit down and look it over. After telling her about his odd meeting earlier, the brunette was quite eager to see what this letter was about.

_Dear Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy~_

_In regards to the lack of history able to be obtained on Abigail, missing a last name, and Liam, missing a last name, we informed you in the last letter that we would be investigating the orphanage they were adopted from. Considering the utter disrepair we found the establishment in, we're surprised that you adopted from there at all._

Hermione and Draco exchanged a glance, currently sitting in his office, with Draco in the chair and the brunette leaning over his shoulder.

_A long investigation on Miss Abbott is sure to follow this discovery. From what our records tell us Annie Abbott left her orphanage in the care of her step-daughter, something discovered in her will not long after the war ended. The current Miss Abbott has neglected to uphold a decent-living establishment, despite spending the Ministry funds for quite some time. We've also discovered that she's neglected to have the building checked out for maintenance, livability or by social security for the past five years. Had any of this been discovered before you signed the papers, the children would've instead been sent for a short stay at St. Mungo's before being sent off to a well-established orphanage. At this time you would've adopted them instead._

_As stated previously, obtaining the correct potions and shots is a must. We can check and make sure that nothing harmful was obtained by the children during their stay at such an unprecedented establishment. A search has been upped to discover the origins of these two children as well as their heritage and possible reasoning why they were left there. Currently no records have been found within the orphanage, but we're still searching._

_I personally would also like to know if you plan to do a background search on Liam as well. It's rather peculiar that you're only interested in the history of one of the children._

_We will keep you updated as we discover more and more. Currently there isn't much to report, other than that Miss Abbott has been taken into custody until further notice and will likely be put on trial. It is also suggested, but not required, that you sue the orphanage and specifically Miss Abbott. The meager other workers are being investigated as I write this, though we haven't gotten anything out of them yet. Oddly it appears as though they have no memory of working in that place at all._

_As I said, suing is an option. It might bring the children justice for the living conditions they've dealt with for so many years. I'm sure a woman will be in contact with you soon, as she overheard some talk about this matter and would love to be the lawyer in such a large case. Whether you chose to do anything with her or with suing is entirely up to you._

_Her name is Penelope Clearwater. _

_~Cho Chang, Director of ancestry and historical preservation _

When they finished reading the blonde set the letter on the table in front of them, rubbing his lip. Hermione moved away from behind him, moving to begin pacing the room.

"Well we know how Abbott obtained owning an orphanage now," she muttered, crossing her arms. "She inherited it."

"Don't you have to go through a bunch of legal matters first before you can do something like that?" Draco asked, leaning back in his chair. "A background check, an investigation of the state the building is currently in-"

"Despite the war it seems that Hannah's step-mother did a good job keeping the place in check. That picture you stole showed the place in a decent state still. Hannah seemingly got the place, let it fall to rubble, and spent the money on herself."

"And no one ever noticed?"

"There is a lot going on right now."

"And the welfare of children and the elderly is typically pretty high up there, Hermione."

"Yes, but she doesn't seem to be too concerned about having people see how horrible the place was." She paused, rubbing her chin. "I wonder what that bit was about the other workers."

"I don't even remember _seeing _other workers," Draco replied, rubbing his temples. "The children certainly never mentioned any."

"Maybe they rarely saw them?"

"Or maybe something seriously twisted is going on. It would be a bit interesting to know who was working for her."

"What good would that do? We probably don't even know them."

"But what if we did?" the blonde asked, arching an eyebrow. "Maybe we could question them."

"We're not investigators," she reminded, pausing in front of his desk now. "We got involved to deal with the shadows and help the children- strictly. We were only going to bother with Abbott again to hopefully get her arrested, which she now is. Technically a lack of background on our two kids led the Ministry itself to go inquiring about her. We didn't even have to do anything on that front."

Draco shrugged, agreeing. "So now we just sit around and see what happens to her?"

"We might as well." She snatched up a quill and parchment, scribbling a note. "I can't believe I got so invested in figuring out who Abigail's mother and father are that I forgot about Liam! What kind of mother am I?"

"A new one," he replied gently, giving her a smile. "It's just a mistake, one that's easily fixable."

"I suppose."

"At least we're asking for his information too. Look, tomorrow we take the kids to St. Mungo's for their potion and shot updates. Maybe we can ask around and figure something out."

"How is that going to help?"

"Well, it might. We might as well do something besides just stand there."

"Okay, fine. Tomorrow we'll bother everyone there."

"Fantastic." He grinned, taking the letter from her to send back with the bird. He conveniently forgot to mention that she would be seen by a Healer tomorrow as well, and he would be the only one doing any real investigating.

* * *

The morning did not start off as planned. Instead of getting a quick start right after breakfast to head to St. Mungo's, the family had to endure the presence of two social service workers, checking in on the children. They insisted upon interviewing both Abigail and Liam separately, and the experience took several hours longer than anyone cared for. When they left, declaring that everything seemed to be going fine and that the children seemed happy, Draco was ready to hit something.

"Did they really have to stay that long?" he grumbled as they prepared to leave for a second time. Hermione just sent him a smile, patting him on the shoulder as she helped Abigail lace up her new shoes.

"They're just doing their job," she reminded, patting the girls head. "No matter how annoying they are."

"When do you suppose these check-in sessions are going to stop?"

Hermione shrugged, standing again. "I don't know." She bent closer, checking to make sure the children were distracted before whispering to him. "With an investigation of the orphanage underway it will probably take longer than normal."

He muttered something, but said it too quietly for her to hear. Given that he wasn't in the best of moods, she supposed it was better that way. Ushering the children out of the room, she missed seeing him do a double-take.

Draco paused, rubbing his eyes as he stared into the corner once more. For a moment, just a split second, he thought he saw his Aunt Bella standing perched in the corner. Noticing the figure on the way out he paused to look closer, but ended up discovering nothing in the end. Maybe it was just a trick of the light.

Oh well, he figured it was nothing, and walked out to catch up with the other three. With Hermione's plan to de-age them coming up sometime soon, he figured he'd end up seeing more about the shadows than he ever wanted to.

He was beginning to wonder about that plan. He wasn't so sure what they would discover anymore.

* * *

About an hour later he sat around exhausted, all alone in St. Mungo's. The children were getting their shots done, swearing that they would hold each other hands and that they were old enough to get shots by themselves. It was kind of adorable, and the two adults left to wait in the waiting room, telling the Healer that they were right nearby if anything went amiss. With several smiles and a wave goodbye the adults left, aiming for two chairs.

But Draco had other ideas. A few minutes later Hermione disappeared for a drink, and when she came back he told her that Abigail needed her help and escorted her to a nearby room. The moment she stepped inside he grabbed the door and slammed it shut, leaving her alone with the Healer.

He was pretty sure she would kill him later. Oh well, so long as she finally got that bloody wrist of hers properly and thoroughly looked at he could handle it. He might just end up sleeping in that cramped little room tonight.

The Healer wasn't too pleased either, she had expected Hermione to arrive two hours before. After a bit of discussion she agreed to see the brunette, if for no other reason than Hermione's well-known name.

"Draco!" After almost an hour of sitting around doing nothing, the sudden cry of his name caught the blonde off guard. He groaned and sat up in his chair a bit straighter, just to be attacked by the leaping little girl that jumped directly onto his lap.

"I did it," Abigail continued, grinning proudly at him. He suppressed another groan from her sudden weight, smiling at the child instead.

"All done, hmm?"

She nodded. "Liam's coming now. They said that if we come back in a few days we can have the rest. They won't do all of them now."

"I imagine not. You didn't cry did you?"

She smiled proudly, placing her hands on her hips. "Not once! The needles don't hurt that bad."

He extended a hand, giving the girl a high five. "Good job."

"Look, here's Liam!" She hopped off his lap again over to her best friend, who was currently holding his arm gingerly. A Healer walked beside him, smiling in Draco's direction. Getting up, the blonde shot an odd glance at the boy as he approached.

"We just need a few signatures," she said, smiling at the two. "They both did very well."

Abigail giggled. "Liam whined a lot."

"I did not!"

"He complained about his arm hurting too, but they don't hurt that much."

"Shut up!"

Draco rolled his eyes at the pair, turning to sign the papers. He asked for copies of everything, figuring Hermione would want to look over them since she couldn't be there to sign too. She'd probably get to it right after she finished ripping his head off.

An insistent tugging on his trousers drew the man's attention, and glancing down he noted that the arguing had stopped, and both children were staring excitedly down the hallway.

"Can we go see Felix?!" Liam asked excitedly, grabbing his hand now. Draco looked over his shoulder, noticing a boy not much taller than Liam waving over at them. He wore the traditional hospital gowns, but had a smile wider than anyone's around. It took a moment for him to register where this child could've come from.

_The orphanage. _He hadn't done a wink of investigating with Hermione unfortunately, or even alone, and almost forgot about the idea all together. Were some of the children so horribly mistreated that they needed to stay at St. Mungo's or was this just a precaution? He had to remind himself that they did only receive the letter just yesterday.

"Draco?" He shook himself out of his daze, looking down at the two hopeful faces. Liam was waiting for a response, hand still holding onto the blonde.

"Yes, go ahead," he replied, clearing his throat. Immediately the smiles returned and the children dashed off, nearly tackling the poor kid into the ground. The blonde smiled lightly at that.

"They're with Annie's Orphanage," the woman behind him said knowingly as he turned back. "All the children have been assigned to a room."

"Isn't that supposed to be disclosed information or something?" he asked lightly, arching an eyebrow as he handed back the paper he'd been signing.

She gave him a soft smile. "The children, Abigail and Liam, were adopted from that orphanage. I've seen it all over the papers, and it's in their records. Am I right to assume that you've already heard about what happened."

He nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"It's strange really. Besides malnourishment and the poor living conditions, the children are fine. They're fairly educated, even though some say that they've lived there as long as they can remember. The lack of shots and potions are a downside of course, but they're all an unusual case. They should have multiple diseases for never having gotten the vaccines, yet none of the report having even caught a cold before. It's quite strange."

"That is," he agreed, pocketing all the information for later when he could speak with a fuming Hermione. "What about the other workers?"

The woman's face blanched and she glanced around, looking for a way out. "I… we really aren't supposed to talk about that."

"I get the feeling that you've already let more slip than you're supposed to," he replied knowingly, leaning back against the wall. "What harm could a little bit more do?"

"It's top secret, Mr. Malfoy. The people really aren't in the best condition."

"Then enlighten me," he replied, shrugging. "The kids I adopted came from that place. I think I have a right to know what kind of hell they came out of."

She bit her lip, hesitating for a moment before she spoke. Draco briefly thought she wouldn't say anything at all, but thankfully it seemed as though he'd found the gossiper of St. Mungo's.

"They don't have memories of working there," she whispered, leaning closer to him. "Some of them don't even seem to know who they are. They just kind of wander around like zombies. One- well…"

"Well?" he persisted, arching an eyebrow.

"Well… they did a DNA scan and discovered that he reportedly died about four years ago. We're still baffled by that one."

Draco paused, blinking several times. What was he supposed to make of that? "Did you run a DNA test on Abigail and Liam?"

"Of course, I was instructed to."

"Did you find anything peculiar about theirs?"

She shook her head. "Initially, no. We're going to do more research to figure out the heritage and everything on the two of them, but I don't see anything strange going on with their DNA. It hasn't been alerted or anything of the sort."

"Just the other people?"

"Yes."

Draco chewed on the inside of his lip, thinking that over. Glancing away he noticed that Abigail and Liam had obtained a crowd, and smiled lightly at that. Or at least, he smiled until he saw the door to Hermione's room opening and an angry brunette peering out.

Well, he wasn't going to get out of this easily.

"Thank you for what you told me," he said kindly, nodding to the woman as he left. She did the same, turning away as the blonde departed.

"Do you think this is funny?!" Hermione hissed when he was nearby. She took a step and nearly toppled over, grabbing onto Draco for support. His eyebrows drew together, confusion clouding his brain. A Healer stepped up behind her and he turned to glare in the man's direction, waiting for an explaination.

"We needed a few pain relief potions," he said awkwardly, ignoring the blonde's gaze. "We used another potion to calm her down when she tried to kill us for touching her wrist. She said it majorly hurt."

"I'm aware," he grumbled, continuing to support her. "And did you find anything interesting?"

The man paused, glancing at his file. For a moment his hands lingered over the piece before picking it up, slipping out a sheet of parchment. "We might be needing her back."

"What? Why?"

"It's just a precautionary measure," he replied, shrugging. "We're going to run the samples we took through the lab for further analysis and we'll let you know what we find."

"Did you figure out _anything _during the past hour?"

"I wrote it all down in there for you," he responded, gesturing to the paper. "We can discuss it, but I wasn't sure if you'd want to stay or if you prefer to take her home, since I know you came along with two children as well."

Draco glanced down at the limp woman in his arms, leaning on his chest, and then towards the children who were still paying no attention to the scene. Sighing, he cursed. Damn painkillers.

"What's your name?" he asked, glancing at the man.

"Oh, it's in the file as well. I'm Healer Finnegan."

"Right," the blonde grumbled, adjusting Hermione in his arms. "I'll be owling you as soon as I've read this."

"I expected it Sir," the man replied, looking on at his former classmate. He doubted that Draco Malfoy even recalled that they ever went to school together. "I'm sure we'll be talking quite a bit in the coming weeks."

_I really don't like the sound of that. _"Right," he grumbled, pocketing the paper. He forced Hermione to stand up, deciding that it would be straight to bed with her when they got back home. "Abigail! Liam! It's time to go."

The children spent their time saying some lengthy goodbyes to their friends as Draco worked to get Hermione to stand up, who kept snapping at him. Every time he touched her wrist though she would hiss, and he eventually decided to just stay away from it. By the time the two kids came over to the floo Hermione was practically asleep against him, the heavy potions kicking in. He made a mental note to question just what they gave her.

It took effort, but he got Hermione into a chair so he could floo the kids home first, planning to return directly after for his drugged bedmate. She apparently didn't take medicine very well.

At the floo, he watched the children wave goodbye to their lingering friends. It didn't pass by him how upset the orphans looked, watching their adopted friends floo away. He'd never forget that brief look of longing.

* * *

**A/n: **Yes, a huge development chapter! It's longer than usual by over a thousand words though. I cut it off here since I feared it might reach five thousand which would be monstrously longer than every other chapter thus far. There's a bit more to happen before the children actually go away and Hermione and Draco try being children themselves, but I'm hoping to start that part in the next chapter someplace. If not, then definitely in chapter twenty.

Any thoughts on this chapter? Also, does anyone have any guesses as to who the father is yet?


	19. By My Side

**A/n: **And here's chapter 11. Thanks to my beta **Hunter's Heir**!

**19. By My Side**

Draco didn't get to examine the paper from Healer Finnegan like he really wanted to. When they finally returned home the children were famished and requiring food, and Hermione was practically asleep. Setting Hermione into bed like he originally planned the blond attempted to make dinner. It wasn't as disasterous as he thought it would be.

"Is Hermione okay?" Liam asked later as the trio ate. Draco nodded, knowing better than to worry a little kid.

"The Healer gave her some very strong medicine. She's tired from it and needs some extra sleep."

"Oh," Abigail said between bites. "Nothing's wrong with her, right?"

"No."

He wished he really knew that. The note from the Healer was currently burning a hole in his pocket, one he didn't much appreciate. He was eager to get the children to bed and head back up to their bedroom to see what was up. The conversation with Finnegan was a bit skeptical, and he intended to figure out what was really going on with her before the children became anymore frightened.

He always knew that damned cut on her wrist was a bad thing. Now he just wanted to know why.

Roughly an hour later the children were tucked into bed after both showering. He took extra care to make sure they would be comfortable tonight and have no reason to jump up and come see them. He had a feeling that he might need some alone time, especially if Hermione woke up.

Slipping beneath the covers after a shower himself, he examined her. She was still fast asleep. Brushing some hair from her face, he took the extra time to make sure she was both comfortable and thoroughly covered with the blankets.

_Look at yourself Draco. You've gone soft for your former enemy and a pair of children!_

He ignored the voice in his head, happy with his situation. Finally picking up the note her unfolded it, hoping to learn something useful that he could add to the bundle of information obtained today. He quickly realized the paper was a set of jumbled notes more so than an actual letter to him.

_Healer: Seamus Finnegan _

_Patient: Hermione Granger_

_Problem: __Bleeding wrist,__ degrading life force_

Draco paused there, reading those last three words multiple times. What the hell was that? He couldn't believe an idea like that was even being put forth, much less that Finnegan actually bothered to write it down! Glancing at Hermione he found himself unconsciously moving closer, grasping her hand for a few moments before he allowed himself to continue reading.

_Ms. Granger experiences pains in her wrist whenever she moves it. Tries to ignore it while working or around other people. Cut on wrist has not healed from accident weeks ago. Very infected. Prescribed potion to help with. Scan of wrist._

He made a mental note to remember the potion written down so he could go pick up the ingredients in the morning. Looks like they had more than one potion to brew tomorrow, if she was well enough to form whatever potion she had in mind to make them young again.

_Wrist oddly contains dead tissue. Shouldn't be able to move wrist but can. Tendons and muscles hardly work. With this kind of failure in her wrist should not be able to move with it or function that wrist at all. Continues to be able to. Have never seen before._

_Like the patients from the orphanage. Odd similarities. Further observations through tests. Owl results._

_Check on livelihood. Dead tissue might spread up arm. Amputation seems silly but might be needed. Cannot think why so much dead tissue but still works. Very strange. _

Draco glanced at her again, looking at the bandaged wrist. What the hell did all this dead tendon bullshit mean? He'd never heard of something like this before. No one can move a body part if no function is felt in it, meaning that Finnegan's notes made absolutely no sense.

Fantastic. He'd sent her to the one bloody Healer who had absolutely no idea what he was doing. Draco would definitely have things to send to Finnegan in the morning regarding this. There was no way he would believe this.

Laying down, he shoved the note onto the bedside table, rubbing his temples. He really should be doing bookwork and ensuring that he balanced his money correctly, but currently the blonde was too stressed and tired to stay up. It was still early, but that didn't mean that he could handle being awake. Rolling on his side he faced the brunette, and eventually fell asleep.

He didn't consciously notice it, but sometime during the night he pulled her back into his body, adjusting to the position as they continued to sleep. And she didn't stir from her slumber, finding the new position quite comfortable indeed.

* * *

A week passed without much happening. Other than being slightly embarrassed about their sleeping arrangement the morning after they slept wrapped around each other, nothing too spectacular happened. Hermione needed time to adjust to the note Finnegan gave them- and she also owled him about the curious things written on the sheet he'd given Draco, wanting to know what all of it meant just as badly as the blond- and brewed her own potion despite the man's protests.

He made her call off work too. At first it was just for the first two days to make sure she was really alright after her hospital visit, but she ended up avoiding her bookshop for the remainder of the week. She was too distracted, thinking about way too many things. The second day after her inspection at St. Mungo's, Draco told her about what the nurse told him. She found all of it rather peculiar and continued to take the children to different bookshops over the next few days, buying far too many volumes to do her research on comfortably at home. She just needed to figure out more about the situation.

After a week, she finally had Draco convinced that she was well enough to create and go through with the potion. They set up a place from the children to stay days in advance; Harry's home, despite Draco's protests. Hermione thought her friends were better than Blaise since he didn't actually have any children. The blond continued to protest though, constantly complaining about Ron. She feared she might never hear the end of this.

Brewing began, and about a week and a half after her appointment at St. Mungo's they were finally ready to go through with this potion of hers. They dropped the children off rather early with Harry and Ginny, Hermione having come up with some sort of lie that she never told Draco about. He didn't bother questioning it, deciding it wasn't that important if he didn't need to speak to her friends. When they were finally alone in the house in Hampshire, reality finally set in.

"Are we really going to do this?" she asked at length, the pair of them staring at two vials in front of them. Draco glanced her way, cocking an eyebrow.

"This was your idea."

"I know," she sighed, rubbing her wrist. His eyebrows drew together, concern taking over as he reached towards her, but she shook her head and gently pushed his hand away. "I'm fine."

"Hermione."

"Really, I am. It's not like there's anything we can do about it. The pain potion Finnegan prescribed isn't doing much to help."

"I'm really going to have to go back there one day and have a serious talk with him."

"Draco, it's not his fault and you know it. He doesn't know what he's dealing with- no one does right now."

"They want you back," he reminded, expression darkening. "They want to keep you holed up there like an experiment."

"The fact that I share traits with people who are considered dead is a bit alarming. Of course they want to run more tests. But you're right Draco, they want to keep me locked up like a lab rat. But I won't do it. If there's a serious reason for me to go back, then it had better be explained in a letter."

"There's no reason for you to go back. Finnegan's analysis is completely stupid. He's off his rocker."

"Don't call him batty yet," she reminded, cradling her wrist unconsciously. "We don't know what this is yet, remember?"

He sighed, rubbing his temples. "Fine, whatever. Maybe when we take the potion the pain will be erased because we're going to be eleven again. Your wrist wouldn't have been hurt at that time."

"It doesn't work that way," the brunette reminded again. "We'll still have our memories, our mindsets, all of it, we'll just be in the form of children."

"And what if these so-called shadows don't buy that?"

"Then we're stuck as children for six hours. Come on then, enough delaying. Let's just get this over with."

"Yes, let's." He grabbed a vial at the same time she did. "You have your wand attached to you, right?"

"Of course. We're not taking any chances."

"Right." He closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and downed the potion. He still thought this was a stupid idea.

Immediately, it started taking effect. He kept his eyes closed as his body morphed, shrinking down as his form constricted. It was the same feeling that one might have if they were an animagus. He didn't open his eyes again until the feeling of being twisted went away, and he was left still.

Opening his eyes, he spotted an eleven year old Hermione, arms crossed and a frown dancing across her face. "You should've worn your hair like that."

"Excuse me?"

"When we were eleven. You're much better looking with it loose and free than that horrendous slicked-back look you went for as a kid."

"Hey, I've always looked good."

"Right."

"Don't be so grouchy Granger. You look much less like a tumbleweed at this age with your hair the size of a normal humans. I wouldn't have had half as much to tease you about if you looked like this. Hell, you're teeth are even straight."

She blinked before zipping off to a mirror. Peering into the floor length mirror, she saw a different version of her former self. He was right, she lacked bushy hair and large front teeth.

"Well, we don't look exactly like we used to," she admitted, studying herself. At least their clothing shrank with them. It was something she tried to make sure happened, in case shadows suddenly jumped out at them the moment they were done changing.

"Of course not," he agreed, coming up behind her to look himself over as well. "It's not a polyjuice potion."

"Yes, but it's still strange that our appearances are altered a bit," she continued, looking closer at herself.

"Granger, that's what you want to focus on right now? You successfully create a de-aging potion and you're worried about why we don't look exactly how we used to."

She turned to glare at him, placing her hands on her hips. "Shut up Malfoy."

"I'm just saying-"

They were cut off by shrill laughter, the pair jumping about a foot in the air. Hermione felt her body freeze as she latched onto Draco's hand, pulling her wand out with the other. Her head whipped around in all directions until she saw her, and her body froze.

"Well, look at that," the figure said, walking along the wall. "This is something I've just never seen before! You two chose to become young again?"

She attempted to respond but her mouth had gone dry, shock taking over. Beside her, Draco seemed to be stuck in the same state. They stood there frozen in their eleven year old bodies, gaping at the shimmery woman in front of them.

"I suppose it's more surprising that you two haven't killed each other yet," she continued, leaning against the wall. No, she was leaning slightly _through _the wood. "Pity. To think I was hoping for a bloodbath."

The brunette wet her lips, attempting to find her voice. Of the two of them, she was able to speak first, even if it wasn't the most intelligent thing she'd ever said. "How… how…"

"Dearie you must make more sense," she cried, stepping closer. "And you'll refer to me properly when speaking to me! Dead or not, I will not take an ounce of disrespect from a _Mudblood_."

"Don't call her that," Draco said evenly, finally finding his voice. It was strange to hear his childish voice again after spending so much time getting used to his husky, adult voice. "You have no right to, Bella."

"So you finally found your voices," she said, sending them a malicious grin. "Congratulations. I wondered how long that was going to take."

Draco opened his mouth to reply but Bellatrix phased through the wall and disappeared. Left all alone, the two exchanged a glance. Half a second later, she was in front of them again, causing both of them to scream as they fell back on the floor.

"Now be quiet," she declared, standing over them. Her half shadowed, half invisible form was even harder to make out in the glow of the light. "It's _my _turn to ask the questions."

* * *

**A/n:** Kind of a filler chapter, sorry guys. More when I can get to writing. Any comments? They help me :)


	20. We Stand in Awe

**A/n**: And here's a new chapter! Thanks to **Hunter's Heir** for betaing!

Written for _Your Favorite Hogwarts House Boot Camp _prompt number 9: ghosts.

* * *

**20. We Stand in Awe**

Hermione could feel her blood pumping. Bellatrix was way too close for comfort. Even in death, she was slightly terrifying- but the brunette wasn't about to let her know that.

"What kind of questions could you possibly have?" Draco asked from his position on the floor. His aunt still towered over them, but he seemed remarkably calm. "It's not as though you couldn't spy on us whenever you pleased, being dead and all."

She scowled. "Yes, thanks for pointing that our dearie- as if I've _forgotten_."

He shrugged, standing as he pulled Hermione up with him, backing away. At least they still had the collected minds of adults, if nothing else. "What are you doing here?" he continued. "You hate this place."

"I go wherever dear sweet Abigail goes," she mocked, hopping about the room. It wasn't an adorable hop, like a child might do in a new space, but a malicious hop, one that put Hermione right at the edge. She wasn't sure what to think about this woman's demur anymore.

"Stalking your daughter are we?" Hermione asked, finally speaking up. "Pity that she doesn't seem to fancy you."

The shimmery woman shrugged, finally ceasing to move around. She was now staring at the two with a terribly cold expression. "No one ever asked if I fancied her either. Why do you think she ended up in an orphanage?"

"Because you died?"

Immediately, Bella was in front of them once more, eyes glowing. "I didn't die! I was killed! I had plenty of other things to do before I died!"

Hermione tugged Draco back by the arm, noticing the violence lingering in his aunt's eyes. Draco might like to poke fun at this topic, egg his aunt on now that she was dead, but he should be weary. After all, they'd been hurt by these shadows before, and she didn't want a repeat if she could help it. Her wrist hurt enough.

Glancing around as the two continued to argue, she noticed something; they were not the only ones in that room. Shadows lingered in several spaces, many of them just outlines, with indistinguishable faces. She had goose bumps on her arms, realizing they were being watched.

How often were they watched exactly?

Fingering her wand, she surveyed the situation. She was worried about Bella, about what she could and would do. And she was worried about the other shadows, and if they had arrived to back Bella up. If so, then they might be in some serious trouble.

But Bellatrix wasn't the first person she wanted to speak with. Indeed, someone a little less severe was far more ideal, and Hermione hoped to find someone with better people skills. Glancing between the bickering family members once more she put on a brave face and aimed her wand at Bella. What she sent towards the woman did nothing more than startle her, but it gave Hermione the time to grab Draco's arm and haul him out of that room. Behind them she could hear Bella laughing.

"Go on then kido, run! I can see you no matter where you are!"

Her words sent chills down the brunette's spine, and she didn't stop running until they were in the living room, a space that was usually quite lit up during the day. Now that it was night the space was eerily shady.

"What did you do that for?" Draco spat when she let go. "I was going to get something out of her!"

"No one ever got anything out of your aunt," she said knowingly, flopping on the couch. "All we accomplished by talking to her was pissing her off. She could strike at any moment Draco, and we don't know how to defend ourselves."

"And you think we're safer down here? Did you not hear her screaming that she can see us anywhere?"

"I don't doubt that, Draco. She is a shadow after all." Sighing, the eleven year old Hermione sat down on the couch, staring at the floor. "We have to talk to someone other than her and figure out what's happening first."

"Like who? No one else has stepped out you know."

"Well, if you two gave us a moment, maybe we would." The sudden voice startled both adults-turned-children, causing their heads to snap up as they turned around to see who was speaking. But Hermione didn't need to look to know. She'd heard that voice enough when she was younger- really younger- to know who it was.

She slid off the couch, almost falling to the floor. Draco wouldn't have caught her, as he was too busy staring up at the shadow curiously. She almost couldn't find her voice.

"Fred," she whispered quietly, imagining him again with soft ginger hair and those lively eyes. He looked flat now, his features not nearly as vibrant or noticeable now that he was shimmery and shadow-like, all bleak colors with no reds to be seen. But Hermione just kept shaking her head. "How?"

"Well I'm dead, like the rest of them," he said, pointing around the room. The duo's eyes followed, looking at all the outlines around them. Different deceased people, watching their every move. No wonder Abigail and Liam were always so cautious.

But Hermione shook her head, remembering Bella. "You don't belong Fred," she said again, clenching her hands together. "You don't belong among these people… these terrible, terrible people."

He arched a half-transparent eyebrow at her. "How would you know if I belong Hermione? Do you even know what I am now?"

She wasn't able to respond. She was still too lost in the fact that he was standing in front of her, watching her. How long had he been watching her?

When Hermione couldn't find her voice, Draco spoke up. "No actually, we haven't the slightest idea what the lot of you are. But if you cared to explain, we'd certainly be open to listening."

Fred finally looked away from his old friend, studying the young blond boy in front of him. "Ah, Malfoy, you haven't changed a bit have you?"

"If you're talking about my size, don't even go there," he snapped, crossing his arms in a very childlike manner. "We both took the same bloody potion!"

"I'm aware," Fred replied evenly, moving to sit on the nearby chair. Only he didn't technically sit on it, but hover above it. "What I'm talking about Malfoy, is your attitude. You're still a bit cutthroat about getting straight to the point."

The blond shrugged. "I don't know how long this spell will last. Once we become adults again we won't be able to see you, which means yet another potion is in order to return to this size to have another conversation. Our youth might be internal, but our physical size is not. So please, if you don't mind, would you kindly explain what's going on here?"

The shimmery Fred sighed, glancing first towards Hermione and then around the room. With a shrug, he fixated his gaze clearly on her. "Are you ready for a story then?"

She gulped, still trying to admit that this was really happening. For Draco it didn't seem to be as big of a deal that these things were happening, and maybe that's because he had yet to find someone who he actually truly missed. But when she thought about Fred she thought about the despair and the pain that the Weasleys went through, as well as herself, and it caused her chest to grow heavy. She still missed Fred very, very much.

But for now she needed to stop thinking about the past and focus on the present. They were there to help Abigail after all, not to become distracted. She nodded her head and sat back beside Draco, their legs not quite touching the floor on the massive couch. Fred scanned their faces once before sighing.

"As you probably figured out," he said, glancing around the room, "the shadows represent dead people. We were all once living people killed for one reason or another. The majority of us came here from the war, and still linger. There are more of us than I could ever count."

"This isn't all of you?" Hermione asked, looking around the room. Fred shook his head.

"Those of us here are only a small fraction of the dead."

"So when you die you just linger around the earth?" Draco asked, speaking up. "No wonder it's so bloody crowded."

"Not exactly Malfoy," Fred replied, smiling gently at the pair. "There is a beyond, a place for each soul to journey once death takes you. There are two place in fact with which you could go, and a train will take you there… I'm getting ahead of myself. I shouldn't even tell you so much about the train. I haven't yet been on it, since I'm not allowed. Once I get on, I'm never coming back."

Hermione frowned. "So… the train stops at either Heaven or Hell and you get off at one?"

"I'm not going to explain this part of it to you," he said evenly, looking at the pair. "There are some things about death that should be left as a secret, even this type of death. When your life ends, years and years from now, and you step into the afterlife you will learn of these things and figure out what happen next. But I won't reveal those mysteries to you. They are simply not mine to reveal."

"Then what can you reveal to us?" Draco snapped, getting irritated. "Have you already forgotten that we're on a time crunch?"

"No, Malfoy, I haven't forgotten," Fred replied as Hermione elbowed the blonde. "You just needed a hint of background information before I started talking about everything else."

"Fine then," he muttered, rubbing his side, "Carry on."

The shadow nodded. "People who are stuck on this earth, people like me, who represent the shadows, cannot get out of here on their own accord. There are people lingering here still from World War two and before, people who can't get out."

"What do you mean?" the woman asked, crinkling her nose. "Why can't you get out?"

"The people stuck here are people who have two traits in common; they died a tragic death in one form or another, and they have living people who still mourn for them and cannot move past their deaths."

He let that sink in. The pair didn't look at each other, and instead their eyes got kind of spacy as they took that in. Fred sat silently, letting them take all the time they needed to process that.

"So… people here can't escape because their loved ones won't move on?" Hermione asked, fiddling with her hands. She very well knew that the Weasley's were nowhere near moving on from Fred. He nodded grimly.

"War always brings about tragic deaths. And when there is war, this in between place fills up. As people learn to let go of their hate, their pain and their sorrow people here can move on with the rest of their forever life. But not until everything is settled; not until those you left behind can accept that you're gone can you move on."

Hermione shook her head. Someone's fate in the afterlife shouldn't be left to the living. A spirit should be able to move on without being trapped by his or her family's sorrows.

So the shadows were ghosts in a way. They might hide in dark spaces, but they were still spirits looking to move on. They were ghosts. And apparently their entire home in Hampshire was crawling with them.

"And what happens if, let's say, someone can't get over the fact that you're dead? What happens if they commit suicide or die before they can accept the matter?"

Fred gave them a soft, pained smile. "I asked that too when I first found out about all of this. Really, two things can happen. Once the last mourner is dead, if a person or set of people couldn't move on, then the spirit can pass on into the rest of their afterlife. But if they are weighed down by a guilty conscience then they will not leave this place, and fade into the shadows of the world themselves, right out of existence."

"That's terrible!" Hermione cried, glancing around at the silhouette's around her. "That shouldn't happen to anyone."

"It happens more than one would like to believe," Fred admitted, looking away from the pair. "Quite often in fact."

Draco was already shaking his head. "Hold on a moment. You expect me to believe that someone out there is still mourning my aunt? Who the hell would do that?! There's nothing about her to miss."

The former ginger shrugged. "I don't know. That's not something I can explain. But someone out there does miss her, and that's why she lingers here. But trust me; Bellatrix is not a favorite to anyone stuck in this in between place."

"I wouldn't assume so."

* * *

**A/n:** Kind of an awkward place to stop, but I cut the chapter in half because it was 5000 words. So the next update should be out soon. Please leave a comment if you have the time :) The feedback helps!


	21. We've Created

**A/n**: Thanks to my beta **Hunter's Heir**!

* * *

**21. We've Created **

Hermione cleared her throat, drawing the two men's attention again. "You do know who Bella is the mother of, right?"

He nodded. "I've been hanging around the two of you for that exact reason. I used to stay at the Burrow, but since the two of you moved in together I've been here. There's a lot of tension about that I couldn't ignore, and with the two of you being two of the few adults that know about shadows, I found this a little interesting. It makes things perhaps a bit more dangerous, but interesting nonetheless."

"Whose Abigail's father?" she asked quickly before she could help herself. "I mean… that's something else we've been curious about."

Fred shook his head again. "We don't know how long the potion will last Hermione, as Malfoy pointed out. When you speak to her I'm sure you'll figure it out, and there might not be time to repeat information. You must speak to her about this. But before you go, there's one last thing I absolutely have to get across to you.

"And that is?" Draco asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Don't let another shadow touch you," he cautioned, glancing around. "You have enough pains as it is."

"What do you mean?" Her eyebrows were high on her head now, curiosity at its peak.

"Don't let the shadows touch you." He gestured to her wrist. "The process has already begun. Don't let it continue."

"What process?" she asked, glancing at the eleven-year old Draco at her side. He looked concerned.

"Those workers from the orphanage," he said, standing- hovering. "They were touched by some of the shadows. Not everyone stuck in this place is as kind as me, or as malicious as Bella. There are plenty of people in between. But when someone infuriates us, we tend to start grabbing skin."

"And that does?" the blond questioned, speaking up.

"We're dead," he explained. "We are technically our own souls hovering around. We've experienced death, and death lingers on us for forever now. By touching a shadow, you're in a way touching death. It's hazardous for your health, and even worse for your mind. The orphanage was an incredibly dangerous place, and the workers that were pulled up out of there were supposed to be dead years ago because they basically are dead. And when death touches you, part of it lingers, killing you in a way. Hermione, you can still step away from all of this without lasting effects. You can find the right spells and potions, I know you can, to remove the essence of death from you completely. And then there would be nothing to fear."

"Until something else touches her, right?" Draco asked tensely, gripping the arm of the chair rather tightly.

"Unless you're directly associating with the shadows, they don't harm you. Children often see them, but they are usually passed off as a nightmare, illusion or make believe. And then the child will stop seeing them as adults continue to tell them that they aren't real. The child would be safe at that point. Adults almost never see the shadows. You two originally started seeing them first because Abigail made Malfoy see them, and then because Malfoy made you see them, Hermione. When you're able to believe that what you're seeing isn't real, you'll be able to stop seeing us too, and you won't be liable to be hurt again. You'll need to convince the children at the same time to ensure that nothing happens to them."

"But what we're seeing is real, isn't it?" Hermione asked, looking between the two men.

Fred smiled. "It is, but at the same time it isn't. The more you think about it the less it makes sense in a way. Convince yourselves that it isn't real, or obliviate the memories of it being real and just convince the children, and the shadows will leave you be. Only believers are susceptible to being hurt."

"And the workers were believers?" she continued.

"Not exactly… that's a different sort of case."

"How so?"

"Well… when you find out more about the shadows, trouble Hannah Abbott. She hid a lot."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Draco spat, glaring at the shadow.

Fred shook his head. "I know you already have your hatred for Abbott, so I don't need to force that upon you. When her step-mother gave her the orphanage, Abbott stumbled upon the shadows. Terrified, having encountered someone like Bella at first, she made a deal that they could bother everyone else but her. Why does that work? Because people with a darker nature don't care who they're hurting. They enjoyed brushing against the workers there, killing them a little more each time. That's why you never saw anyone else working there. Abbott didn't want anyone seeing the workers in those conditions. I'm sure that will come back to bite her in the butt as well."

Hermione shook her head. So Hannah truly was a monster inside. She somehow made a deal with the shadows, the ghosts, something Hermione didn't even know was possible, and saved her own skin. She did it in order to save herself. And now things were going to unravel. But how would they ever explain that to the rest of wizarding Britain? Yes, she should pay for what she had done, but how could they make people understand what was happening? Hell, she barely understood what was happening right now.

The workers were hurt because Hannah cast them off. But the question was now how to save them, and how to save Hermione too. She glanced down at her own wrist, small now that she was eleven again, and gently placed her other hand over it. How was she supposed to heal that wound?

"So her parents," Hermione continued, picking up a different conversation when no one would continue the old one, "Are Bellatrix and…"

Fred shrugged. "That's not something I know. I have my theory, but I can't exactly say it. It's a bit too bizarre."

"Try me," Draco muttered, looking around the room. His gaze stopped cold when he saw a figure across the room, staring back at them. He met her gaze head on with steady eyes. Hermione noticed he was looking off and turned as well, spotting her across the room.

Bellatrix. She didn't look secure now, overpowering or even scary. Her expression wavered, as though she didn't know what to feel as she glided towards the trio. Glancing back, the brunette noticed Fred stepping away.

"This is your conversation," he said tenderly, smiling softly at her. "I have a feeling that your magic will wear off soon. I will help you as I can in the future and try to keep them at bay. Good luck talking to her, Hermione."

She watched Fred slip away, back into the shadows. She wouldn't label him a coward for leaving her alone, not one bit. But she did wonder, as she watched him disappear, if there was something else he wanted to say before Bella appeared. She wished she had the time to ask.

"Getting answers are we dearies?" Bella asked, gliding forward. She paused in front of the two, arms crossed. "When will you learn to leave my daughter alone?"

Surprised, they both felt their eyebrows shoot up. "Considering how bloody terrified she is of the shadows," Draco snapped, glaring at his aunt, "We didn't really think you gave a damn about her."

The woman pursed her lips, studying the blond. "She was spawned at the wrong time my boy. An inconvenience, someone I couldn't care for. Obviously it didn't matter, since I died shortly after her birth."

Hermione frowned as the woman spoke, uncertain whether or not the woman was attempting to act semi-human or not. She'd never seen the insane lady so calm before.

"She's better off without you."

Bella raised an eyebrow at the bold girl, but said nothing in response to her retort. This was a complete one-eighty from the madwoman they spoke to less than twenty minutes ago. "Perhaps she is. Now she's got two adorable little play-parents taking care of her. You two are a right show, considering that you only mutually tolerate one another. I must say, it's moderately hilarious."

"I wouldn't call it moderate toleration," Draco snapped, twisting words around. "At least we care for something."

"You care about getting rid of the shadows," she said in return, swinging her arms around her. "And yet they're still here! You've done nothing but drag yourselves further into the situation."

"Well we won't back out now," Hermione retorted, crossing her arms. "There's not a chance in the world."

"Of course not," Bella replied, placing a hand over her heart. "But I thought I should show you something, something to jar those little heads of yours."

"What are you playing at?" the blond asked, used to his aunt's trickery. He hated taking chances with her. "I'm tired of your games Bella. We have some questions and then we'll leave you be."

"I don't see that happening," she snapped, crossing her arms. "For you see, you aren't on top in this game. We're the ones with answers, and you would do well to remember that." Her lips turned up into a smirk, and she held her arm out diagonal from her body, never looking away from the two. "Now, perhaps you'd be interested in meeting Abigail's father?"

Startled, the two couldn't come up with something to say. Exchanging a glance, the missed the figure stepping from the shadows, two shimmery beings coming together to grasp hands, a malicious grin decorating each of their faces. When the duo glanced back at Bella again, their hearts practically stopped.

For many minutes, nothing was said. And Bella stood beside her former lover, grinning like a banshee.

"So we should be looking for the Riddle heritage," Hermione whispered, speaking first. The mostly-formed face of Voldemort grinned wider, standing over a head taller than Bella. She almost wanted to puke. This could not be happening.

"Ah, Hermione Granger," Voldemort replied, surveying the two. "Draco, my boy, I never thought you would stoop so low."

The blond growled but said nothing in response, still a bit too stricken by what he was seeing. Beside him Hermione grabbed his hand, feeling like she might fall over. Her head was spinning trying to put all the pieces together in the never ending puzzle.

"Surprise Draco," Bellatrix said, patting the Dark Lord's shoulder. "You're now an in-law to the most powerful man of all time."

"He was dead before your husband," the blond replied, looking thoroughly stumped. Bella shrugged mischievously, not offering up an answer. "How the hell is that possible?"

"Magic does marvelous things," Bella said, exchanging a glance with Voldemort. "A quick dark spell or two and you can sustain and even pause a pregnancy for an indefinite amount of time- if you're willing to go that route. One has to be willing to toy with dark magic like that, and we did. I just forgot to reapply the magic one day, some weeks after the war supposedly ended. Dear Abigail was born far too early because of it- or maybe it was early enough. If she'd been born later, she would've died inside of me."

The brunette kept staring at the couple, putting pieces together. The mere fact that Bella would try such dangerous things on her unborn daughter was extremely alarming. Either she was insanely in love with the idea of having a child, or hoped the girl would die before she could be born.

"Don't be so stricken children," she said when neither Draco nor Hermione could say anything in response to that. "It's not like I intended to ever take care of my kid."

"You would've left her to die?!" Hermione asked, finally pulled out of her thoughts at that comment. She knew Bella was crazy and borderline mentally insane, but that insane?

Bella shrugged. "I dropped her near an orphanage when I was dying. Being chased I figured I should get rid of the kid. She wouldn't survive at the mere age of three alone anyway. I just happened to leave her near an orphanage, and someone found her. The girl's lucky; nothing more."

The brunette shook her head, remembering someone telling her that Abigail was dropped at the orphanage at three, but she couldn't recall who. She just didn't think Bella was the one to drop the child off. She figured someone found the girl and left her there instead. How did the Auror's miss a little kid?

"I thought you had a bit more compassion than that," Draco muttered, rubbing his temples at the explanation. "For Merlin's sake you left your necklace with her."

"A token of good will," Bella replied with a shrug. "I figured it would be fun to someday watch her world collapse when she figured out who mummy and daddy were. I just never figured I would end up stuck here. Can't imagine who's missing us." She glanced at Voldemort and winked. It was one of the most terrifying things Hermione had ever seen.

She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped as the world began to swim. For a moment she couldn't see the shadows, those ghosts, standing in front of her at all. Then they were back again, and she shook her head, glancing towards Draco.

"The spells wearing off," she whispered, wondering how she would feel coming out of this experience. She wasn't sure how she would feel about it after having seen all of this. "We don't have long now." He nodded his agreement, focused on Voldemort. The man's eyes looked oddly familiar.

"You're the one that hurt her," he said, staring straight at Voldemort. The man arched an eyebrow at him, and then Draco grabbed Hermione's hand, mindful of her wrist. "This mark, this terrible thing that supposedly marks an upcoming death, you're the one that administered it."

"What gives you that idea boy?" Voldemort asked, curious now. He disappeared from their vision briefly, only to reappear again.

"That night in the stockroom in her shop," he said, speaking to no one in particular now, "You're eyes match the ones that stared at us from the wall. And not long after her wrist was severely hurt. I bet it was you."

The Dark Lord grinned, flashing in and out of their vision again. "How right you are my dear boy. But you're missing something else aren't you?"

Hermione shook her head, seeing less and less of the shadows as the seconds passed. "What?"

"I was the one that chased you down the alley that night Draco," he said, the voice almost gone. "I was the one chasing dear little Abigail."

The blond opened his mouth to reply, but there was no one left to speak to. In the blink of an eye, the shadows were gone, the potions effects wearing off. He didn't have time to ask Hermione about it, for he was immediately blinded by pain, sinking into the floor as his body reshaped itself into his adult form. He took a few moments to catch his breath before glancing at Hermione again, who was also on the floor now.

They were alone, not a shadow in sight. Or at least, none that they could see.

Draco offered her his hand and she took it readily, letting her help him up. She only made it to the couch before collapsing, resting her head in her hands. Already, she could feel a migraine coming on. The blond sat down beside her, draping an arm around her shoulders. They appeared to be alone, but now they realized they were never really alone.

"Voldemort's my uncle in law," he muttered, causing Hermione to peek through her fingers at him. "I knew my family tree was messed up, but not this messed up."

"What are they even doing in this in between place," she muttered, moving now to rest against him. "This bloody in between place is supposed to be for people who died tragic deaths, right? There's nothing tragic about either of their deaths."

Draco shrugged, his brain on overdrive. "I don't know, Hermione. None of it makes sense to me."

They sat in silence for a long time, trying to understand what was going on, and just why Bellatrix and Voldemort were so open about the information. Did they share just to give the two a headache, or was there some underlying meaning behind everything they said?

At length Hermione pulled away from Draco and looked up at him, eyes wide. "Draco?"

"Hmm?"

"You don't think they're still lingering here because Abigail won't let go of the parents she lost, do you?"

He sat up a bit straighter at that, meeting her eyes. Shaking his head, he looked away. "I don't even know Hermione. I don't even know."

She nodded, clasping her hands tightly together. "I guess we need to ask her a lot more questions."

"Yes," he replied, placing a hand on top of hers, "Yes, we do indeed."

* * *

**A/n:** And here's the rest of it! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and all the new information. For anything confusing please let me know in a review! Got to make sure that I don't have too many loose ends!


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